


Stargazing

by nothingwithoutyouxo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter Next Generation, M/M, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-08-27 15:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 64,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8406982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingwithoutyouxo/pseuds/nothingwithoutyouxo
Summary: Albus Potter has always found himself fascinated with the stars. There's a particularly nice cliff near his house that's perfect for stargazing and with an eclipse scheduled for that night, Albus can't wait to go up and watch. He wasn't expecting anyone else to be up there with him, especially not a boy that he's never met before, but maybe it's not just the stars he'll get lost in that night.





	1. Were You Dazzled By The Same Constellation?

**Author's Note:**

> So last night I found myself desperately wanting to write something but needing a prompt so I pummeled my way through my writing resources tag and found this gem: “i went to a cliff near my house to watch the eclipse one night and you were the only other one there and we started talking about eclipses and stars and moons and oh god you look so passionate about it au”. 
> 
> I took a few liberties in this fic, because obviously eclipses are pretty common but lets pretend they're not. Oh, and this a modern/non-magic setting because I couldn't figure out a way for this to sit in the canon world (strange, right?). Alas, this is just a little fluff piece that I kind of adore. I hope you all like it!!

The sky was steadily falling darker as Albus made his way towards the cliff. It had taken him weeks to convince his mother to let him do this. An eclipse like this only happened every four years. The last one he’d seen had been when he was thirteen and all he could remember was being amazed by it. He father had suggested that he come with him, even James offered to come, but if James went then Lily would come too and soon enough all of his family would be tagging along. Albus preferred the thought of doing this alone. He’d always been fascinated by the stars. For as long as he could remember there was nothing more exciting than looking up at the night sky. Rose always joked that he should marry a star, but that was impossible. Albus was quite fine on his own anyway.

 

The cliff by Albus’ house was somehow a magical place. You always had this incredible view of the moon. The last time there was a meteor shower, Albus and his family had all headed up to the cliff and watched the streaks of light in utter fascination. Albus somehow wished that he could live up there, but at least it wasn’t too far from his house. There’d never really been anyone up here before. Most of the time it was windy beyond belief since the ocean was out in front of it, and the only houses nearby were of people that had more money than they would ever need and zero interest in taking advantage of the view. Albus was grateful for that because that meant the cliff had become  _ his _ . Sometimes he even snuck up there in the middle of the night just to take in the view. One time he’d run into James while trying to sneak back in. James had been on his way back from a party and the two vowed not to mention anything to their parents.To this day, neither Ginny or Harry had found out.  

 

A gust of wind blew, ruffling Albus’ hair in a way that he always found comforting. It meant that he was close to the cliff, since the ocean really made the wind pick up around the area. Sure, maybe that meant it would be a cold night but as Albus shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat he didn’t really care. As the ocean appeared in front of him he realised that he wasn’t alone. There was someone else sitting by the edge of the cliff. Albus couldn’t blame them, really. It was the best spot to see the eclipse and all. They must have been just as excited as he was if they were bracing the cold as well. As Albus approached the person looked up and he noticed that it was a boy about his age. He didn’t recognise him from anywhere. They must go to different schools. 

 

“Uh, hey” he muttered.

 

“Hey” the boy smiled up at him. There was a bag of sweets sitting next to him. When he noticed Albus looking at them he said, “you can have some if you like. The sugar helps me stay awake. I’d hate to miss an eclipse like this”.

 

“That’s ok” Albus shrugged, taking a seat next to him. “I’m not used to other people being up here”. 

 

“I don’t come up here often. It's’ more my mum’s thing but I think that it’ll be nice to see the eclipse”.

 

“Big fan of the moon?” Albus asked, wrapping his arms around his knees to help keep himself warm.

 

“It’s not just the moon. It’s the stars and all the planets. There’s just so much out there, you know? So much that we don’t even know yet”. 

 

Albus looked over at the boy next to him, the stars had decided that they would partially relocate to his eyes and and Albus had never realise before just how beautiful someone could be. When he looked over and beamed at him it only emphasised that.

 

“Sometimes I think the best way to see the stars is to look at them while they’re directly above you” he flopped down on the ground. “It makes it a lot easier to trace the constellations like this”.

 

Albus followed suit, lying down on the ground. The wind whipped around the two of them forcefully. He looked up at the stars, lining up the constellations in his head and seeing if there were any other pictures that he could see. “Do you ever wonder how they found constellations in the first place?” he asked, breaking the silence between them.

 

“Wouldn’t it be the same as making shapes out of clouds? Except, the stars would move less often, so they would appear to be the same shape”.

 

That was a good point. “How many people would it take to make it legitimate? Like, if I said that I could see a rabbit right now how many people would have to agree?”.

“Where can you see the rabbit?”.

 

Albus smiled, he held his arm up, physically tracing some of the stars in the sky. “See?”.

 

“It looks more like turtle to me” he laughed. 

 

“Do you have a favourite constellation?” Albus asked, out of curiosity. 

 

The other boy smiled, turned on his side so that he was facing Albus. “There’s one that shaped like a Dolphin. I don’t know why I like it so much but I think it’s awesome”.

 

“Somehow I wasn’t expecting that”.

 

“How so?”.

 

“I didn’t realise you would be such a dork”.

 

He laughed at that, “You find me up here in the freezing cold waiting for the moon to turn red and you didn’t think I was a dork?”.

 

“Point taken”.

 

“What time is it?” he asked, sitting up again and reaching for his bag of sweets. He grabbed a handful before holding out the bag out to Albus.

 

Albus scrambled for his phone, sitting up and pulling it out of his jeans pocket carefully.  _ 8:56 _ . “It’s almost 9” he said.

 

“Oh good, it’ll be starting soon”.

 

Albus took a handful of sweets from the bag and laid his phone on the ground next to him. “Excited?” he teased.

 

“You bet! I haven’t seen an eclipse before”.

 

“Really? I saw one a few years ago. I don’t remember it very well but it was awesome” Albus smiled at the memory. He can remember his sister yelling and pulling at James excitedly, pointing at the moon ahead of them. 

 

“I’ve only really gotten into astronomy in the last few months” the boy shrugged, spilled a few more sweets in his hand. “My mum was always really into it. She’s started to get sick now so I thought that maybe I’d see why she loves it so much”. 

 

“I’m sorry” Albus muttered. He didn’t quite know what to say, he wasn’t all that good at comforting people. He wasn’t all that good with people in general, unless they were his family. Albus placed a somewhat awkward hand on the boy’s shoulder. He didn’t know him very well at all but somehow he felt like that maybe that small gesture would help.

 

He laughed, turning to smile at Albus. “And you thought I was the dork”.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”.

 

“It means you’re sweet” he held the bag out to Albus again.

 

“You don’t have to keep giving me these, you know” he reminded, grabbing another handful.

 

“Haven’t you heard? Sweets are the best way to make new friends” he sang, then burst into a fit of laughter.

 

“I actually really hate that commercial” Albus muttered, “It’s so damn repetitive”.

 

“You’re no fun” he smirked.

 

“Hey look, it’s starting” Albus beamed, eyes on the moon in front of them. 

 

The two boys watched as the moon started to change colour before their eyes. It was slow at first, becoming a dull orange and then slowly the moon became more and more red. Soon the moon was blood red and Albus heard the boy next to him exhale it total awe. 

 

“How does it do that?” he asked, not looking at Albus but keeping his eyes on the moon. 

 

Albus beamed at him. He’d never really seen anyone react to an eclipse other than his family. Even then it was only Lily who truly seemed amazed by it, the others had seen their fair share of eclipses, luna and solar alike. “It’s a simple concept, actually”.

 

“Enlighten me then”.

“Well, the light of the sun is usually reflected off the moon so it appears to be grey, right? Or silver, however you want to look at it. But right now the earth is blocking the light from the sun, so the moon is in shadow. The only light getting through to the moon is going via earth’s atmosphere. It’s red light, which is why the moon is appearing to be red”. 

 

“You’re smart, you know that”.

 

Albus laughed at that. “Not really” he replied.

 

“Nah, really” the boy looked over at him. “You know all that stuff”.

 

Albus shrugged, trying not to act  _ too  _ smug. “Yeah” he muttered, sheepishly. 

 

“You must spend a lot of time up here then?”.

 

“This is my favourite place to be” he confirmed. 

 

“Maybe I should come here more often then. Unless you prefer being alone that is?”.

  
“Company might be nice, actually. Sometimes my brother comes with me but he’s been a lot busier lately” Albus explained. 

 

“How so?”.

 

“Oh, he’s a first year uni student so he’s not around all that much anymore. I miss him sometimes but we still text and everything whenever he’s not at home. Do you have any siblings?”.

 

“Nah, just me”.

 

“I have a sister as well. She’s two years younger than me. I have a lot of cousins too but I’m probably just boring you with all this talk about my family” Albus rushed, his thoughts starting to catch up with to ask him what the hell he thought he was on about.

 

“You’re not boring, actually. Hey look, it’s already less red”.

 

Albus’ eyes snapped back to the moon. The colour was already dimming. “The earth’s probably moving in its rotation. It won’t be blocking the sunlight for much longer”.

 

“Space is so weird” the boy muttered, seemingly more to himself than to Albus.

 

“Do you understand why your mum likes it so much, now?” he smirked.

 

“Yeah. I guess everything makes sense now” he shrugged.

 

It didn’t take much longer for the moon to return to its usual silvery colour. The stars flickered on as the always did and the night was returned to normal. Silence fell between the two boys, neither of them wanting the night to end at all. Maybe if they just stayed there awhile longer than the moon would magically change colour again. Of course, that was impossible at this stage. 

 

“So how was your first lunar eclipse?” Albus asked, smiling.

 

“It was incredible” he laughed.

 

“I hope I didn’t distract you too much”.

 

“No, actually. It was nice to have company. If it’s ok with you I might come up here again sometime”.

 

“Technically this is public space so I can’t deny you that” Albus smirked.

 

“Yes but this cliff has a lot of meaning for you. It seems right ask permission” the boy shrugged before standing up, brushing some grass off his jeans and coat. 

 

The realisation that the night was over seemed to dawn on Albus rather painfully. He didn’t want this boy to leave. Not at all. He’d rather they just stay there and talk about space and whatever else, even if it was just for a few more hours. 

 

“I better get back before my dad regrets his decision to let me come” the boy laughed, picking up his now empty bag of sweets and stuffing them into one of his coat pockets. 

 

“Um” Albus muttered, standing as well and grabbing his phone off the ground quickly. His mother would kill him if he forgot it. “Yeah I guess I better do that too”.

 

“This was nice” he smiled, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets as well to help keep out the cold. The wind had started to pick up even more.

 

“You know, I don’t think I ever caught your name” Albus said. It was a last stitch attempt to keep the night from ending. He was starting to hope that he would see this boy again. Even if they’d only just met, and they didn’t know that much about each other yet, he was hoping that maybe they’d get to spend more time together. Albus hadn’t really felt that way about anyone before. 

 

“Oh” he beamed, laughing as if the thought had escaped him entirely. Maybe he was hoping that the night wouldn’t end either. Maybe he wanted to stay as much as Albus wanted him to. “It’s Scorpius”.

 

“Scorpius? Like the constellation?” Albus asked. That was so incredibly fitting and Rose was going to laugh herself silly when he told her about this in the morning. Not to mention the jokes James would make. Maybe he’d have to keep this from his family for a while. 

 

“Yep, that’s it” he laughed. “My mum wanted to name me after something to do with the galaxy and my dad seemed to think that Scorpius was intimidating. You know, because of the Scorpion thing. I don’t know if I see his logic there at all. But anyway, that’s what they decided on”.

 

“So that means” Albus gazed up at the stars above them, finding Libra first and then scanning until he found what he was looking for, “that’s you” he said, pointing up the Scorpius constellation in the sky.

  
“That’s me” Scorpius looked up, a bright smile on his face. His parents had shown him the Scorpius constellation a million times but somehow this felt special. 

 

“It must be so cool to be named after a constellation” Albus muttered. If only his parents had been as creative as Scorpius’ were. Maybe he’d have a better name. Not that his was all that bad. Knowing his parents, it probably could’ve been worse.

 

“You mean, you’re not? Not even a star? Or a planet? I thought for sure you would be. You definitely feel like you are one” Scorpius asked, seemingly confused.

 

“My name’s Albus” he shrugged. “I was named after my dad’s favourite teacher at school. How sad is that?”. 

 

“Albus isn’t so bad” he offered.

 

“It’s not nearly as cool as Scorpius” he smirked. 

 

“Well, not everyone can be as amazing as I am”.

 

Albus looked over at the laughing boy next to him. The moonlight was catching Scorpius’ blonde hair and turning it silver. He wasn’t sure how, but Scorpius was definitely the right fit for him. It was the perfect name for someone that seemed to shine in the same way that stars themselves did. What a horribly sappy thing that was, he thought. 

 

“I’ll see you again, won’t I?” Scorpius asked, looking at Albus again.

 

“I usually hang around here a few times a week” Albus shrugged. 

 

“I’ll swing by at some point then. Maybe we can find some more constellations. Some new ones” he smiled. 

 

“I’d like that actually” Albus returned his smile. 

 

The two of them parted ways. Even if they’d only known each other for a few hours they found themselves excited to see each other again. Albus wondered how many times his mother would let him go to the cliff that week. He’d come every night if it meant he had a chance to see Scorpius. Somehow the thought of that was even more exciting than seeing the stars themselves. 

 

***

 

_ “Albus when you marry a star is James still going to be your best man?” Rose asked him, she had her legs thrown over the side of an armchair, a book sitting in her lap casually. It was a lazy Sunday. _

 

_ “I don’t think it’ll ever be possible to marry a star, Rose” Albus replied easily, channel surfing aimlessly, even if there was nothing on at this time. He should probably just settle for playing a board game with Hugo, maybe even convince everyone else to play as well.  _

 

_ “What about a constellation?” Lily teased, looking up from her laptop and playing along. _

 

_ Albus snorted at that. “Sure Lily, I’ll just marry a constellation”. _


	2. Counting Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Ok so I continued this. Thank you all for the positivity on the first chapter. I haven't finished writing the entire fic yet but I've got about five chapters thus far so we'll see how far this goes :)  
> This chapter features Albus and Rose being best friends (fight me Jack Thorne), James being an awesome dorky brother and cute lil Scorbus fluff because I can't get enough of them. I hope you guys like it!

 

“Wait, so let me get this straight” Rose smirked, “you go up to the cliff to watch the eclipse like the utter dork you are and meet a boy up there you’ve conveniently never seen before?”

 

“You make it sound a lot more ridiculous than it was,” Albus defended. He and Rose often found themselves at the park halfway between their houses, solely because it was easy for them both to get to. It was a tiny little park and the swingset was often free. Even though they were both seventeen, they would never pass up a good swing. Albus watched as his cousin started to swing higher and higher. She almost looked too pleased, too smug.

 

“That’s adorable, Al,” she laughed. “How was the eclipse?”

 

“You mean you didn’t see it?” he asked. Rose had never been as into astronomy as he was, but he genuinely thought that she would have seen the eclipse, at least briefly.

 

Rose skimmed the ground to help slow herself down. There were some kids making their way over so she and Albus would have to vacant the swings soon. “Chemistry essay,” she shrugged. “It was as horrible as it sounds.”

 

“My condolences,” he teased.

 

“You have to tell me more about this boy you met. This is like something out of a movie. What did he look like?” Rose stood, started walking away from the playground as the kids finally reached it.

 

Albus stood and followed her. The two made a silent decision to head back to Rose’s house. “I mean, it was dark so I guess I couldn’t really see him,” he shrugged. 

 

“Lies,” Rose accused. “The moon was right in front of you. You just don’t want to tell me,” she put her hands on her hips.

 

“That’s not it,” he replied. 

 

“You just want to keep this boy  _ all  _ to yourself,” she continued.

 

Albus stopped for a moment. Is that what he was doing? It wasn’t intentional. He shrugged again, “I don’t know if you’re wrong or not,” he admitted. 

 

“I’m never wrong. I take after my mother,” Rose beamed at him, proudly. 

 

He rolled his eyes as the two of them started walking again.

 

“Now you,” she nudged him with her elbow, “are going to tell me all about this boy or I’m telling mum that you can’t stay for dinner. And she’s making your favourite tonight.”

 

“I hate you,” he muttered. 

 

Rose didn’t reply. She fished in her jacket pocket for her house key as Albus pushed open the front gate and made his way to her door. Rose closed the gate behind her, nudging Albus out of the way gently so she could reach the lock. 

 

“No one home?” Albus asked.

 

“Mum needed to go into work. Dad went to go and visit Uncle George and Hugo’s over at a friend’s house.”

 

“So there’s no one home to hear you torturing me?” he teased. 

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, Al. I’m trying to dig into your normally non-existent love life. I  _ am  _ your best friend, you know”..

 

Albus followed Rose into her living room, flopping down on the couch next to her. She quickly adjusted her position, sitting cross-legged and looking at him expectantly. “If you tell James any of this I will literally kill you,” he warned.

 

“I’m sure James would love nothing more than to hear all of this from you,” she smirked back.

 

Albus sighed and leaned back into the couch. He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. “What do you want to know?” he asked.

 

“What did he look like?” Rose rolled her eyes, repeating her earlier question.

 

“He was wearing a black coat, black jeans. Might have been why I didn’t see him straight away, I guess. He had blonde hair, really nice eyes,” Albus coughed, trying to remind himself not to be so sappy. He avoided looking at Rose because he knew she was smirking. “He had blonde hair and those sweets with him. You know, your favourite ones. He had a nice voice I guess,” Albus trailed off, shrugging and trying to avoid Rose’s eyes.

 

“He sounds hot,” she smirked at him. “Please tell me you got this guy’s number,” she nudged him.

 

“I didn’t,” Albus muttered, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him at the time. Now he just felt a little bit stupid that he hadn’t asked. “But he said he might come back to the cliff at some point so maybe I’ll see him again.”

 

“You’re hopeless,” Rose teased, laughing. 

 

He nodded slowly, looking up at her again. “Since you’re always right I’ll have to agree with that as well, won’t I?” he smirked.

 

Rose rolled her eyes, still laughing. “What about a name? Did you get his name?” she asked.

 

“Scorpius,” he answered.

 

“Scorpius?” Rose grinned, “Like the constellation?”

 

“Like the constellation.”

 

“Oh this is  _ rich _ . James is going to lose his shit.”

 

“But you won’t tell him, right?” Albus reminded.

 

Rose sighed dramatically, seeming to deflate a little and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, Al. I won’t tell him.” She paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate her words. “Can I tell my mum?” she asked.

 

“I’d rather you not tell anyone,” he said.

 

“Well, you’re no fun,” she poked her tongue out at him.

 

“You can’t tell Lily either. She would literally kill me for not getting his number.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about that, Al. I’ll make sure you see this boy again if it’s the last thing I do,” she declared. 

  
“And how do you think you’re going to do that?” he asked.

  
“Well, Scorpius can’t be a very common name. I know people. I can track him down.”

 

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” Albus muttered. 

 

“Do you want to see him again or not?”

 

“You got me there.”

 

***

 

“You know, Al, you’ve been sneaking out an awful lot lately.” James was sitting at the kitchen table clutching a strong cup of coffee. Albus looked around himself automatically even though he knew his parents were nowhere near them. He really didn’t want them to find out he’d snuck out every night this week. 

 

“What do you mean?” he asked lamely, not meeting his brother’s eyes. 

 

“What’s his name?” James asked, leaning back in his chair a little, his coffee forgotten for the moment. Even though he wasn’t around as much because of his classes he was as observant as ever. 

 

“Whose name?” Albus muttered, eyes flicking around the room. He pulled at the sleeve of his sweater absently, clearly uncomfortable.

 

James kicked the chair across from his out from the table, indicated for Albus to sit. The smirk on his face somehow seemed to be even cheekier than usual. That wasn’t reassuring for Albus, but he took the seat anyway. “Let me see,” James teased. “You’ve snuck out … one … two … three … nights this week so far,” he said, flicking his coffee cup once for every number, “and it’s only Thursday. So that’s every single night. You have to be meeting with someone for that kind of efficiency. Trust me, I know. So that brings us back to the question, what’s his name?”

 

Albus sighed, cursing at just how well his brother knew him. He guessed that he couldn’t really blame him, Albus was kind of an open book. “What do you want to know?” he asked, slumping forwards against the table in defeat.

 

“Start from the beginning,” he chugged the rest of his coffee, placing the cup down on the table and leaning forward with anticipation.

 

“You know the eclipse that happened on Sunday?”

 

“The one that you were raving about for weeks prior? I know the one.”

 

“Mum let me go up the cliff to watch it,” he continued. 

 

“Wait, did you meet a boy while you were watching the eclipse? No fucking way!” James laughed. “Oh this is too good.”

 

Albus glanced towards the doorway for a moment, worried that somehow his parents would appear to chastise him. “Yeah I did,” he replied, turning back to face his brother. 

 

“And did you romantically watch the eclipse together?” James beamed. “Have you told Rose this? She’ll die.”

  
“I wouldn’t say romantically but yeah,” he shrugged, finding the table to be much more interesting to look at.

 

“So you’ve been sneaking out every night this week to see a boy? I can’t say I’m not impressed and swelling with pride right now.”

 

“I haven’t seen him since,” Albus muttered. Even if he’d spent every night this week on the cliff, Scorpius had yet to return. Maybe Albus was trying a little too hard but he couldn’t help hoping that he would come back. He was worried that the one night he didn’t go would be the one night that Scorpius decided to. 

 

“This a movie in the making, Al,” James smirked. “Well, he must be something special to have you so enamoured.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Hey, you’ll see him again. Don’t even worry about it,” James smiled, this time is was reassuring. At least, he intended it to be.

 

“Thanks, James”.

 

“I’m assuming you didn’t get his number then?”

 

Albus shook his head, “I wasn’t thinking far enough ahead, I guess.”

 

“You were distracted.” James shrugged. “Makes sense. Did you get his name?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And?” James smiled, leaning forward even more and resting his chin his hands. 

  
“It’s Scorpius,” he muttered.

 

James burst out laughing. Albus sighed, dropping his head into his heads because he knew he would get that kind of reaction. “I’m sorry,” James beamed. “Did I hear you correctly?”

 

“Scorpius, like the constellation,” Albus rolled his eyes, bitterness making its way into his tone.

 

“Scorpius,” James muttered, tapped his chin in thought for a minute. “Why does that sound familiar?”

 

“No idea,” Albus shrugged. “Maybe you’ve met him at some point.”

 

“If he’s the type to watch the eclipse with you then I don’t think he’s the type to run in the same circles as me,” he joked.

 

“You’re probably right.”

 

“What does he look like?” he asked, racking his brain for some kind of memory to resurface, some kind of recollection.

 

“Um, tall, blonde,” Albus muttered.

 

“Wait, blonde?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Hang on, I think I’m getting something,” James said, rubbing his temple for a moment. 

 

“You look absolutely ridiculous,” Albus smirked at him.

 

“How blonde?” he asked.

 

“Really blonde. Like almost white-blonde I guess. Why?”

 

“Oh no,” James muttered, his hands dropping to the table quickly.

 

“What?” Albus asked. Somehow he found himself fearing the worst. James had turned serious and it was such an uncommon state for him that it was almost alarming.

 

“Scorpius Malfoy,” he replied.

 

“Oh,” Albus muttered.

 

“Should I just start calling you Romeo from now on? You know, since you’ve fallen in love with the enemy,” James teased.

 

“Fuck everything,” Albus groaned, he pulled the hood of his jacket up and dropped his head into his hands, as if that would somehow hide him from view. 

 

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” James laughed.

  
“I hate you.”

 

“I have to text Rose,” he replied, reaching for his phone quickly.

 

***

 

The shit-eating grin on Rose’s face the next day the second she spotted him walking through the school gates was anything but reassuring. He was almost tempted to turn around and head back home but his parents would probably kill him if he skipped school.

 

“So for your funeral,” Rose said to him, trying to be casual, “would you prefer white roses to symbolise your purity at heart or black ones like your soul?”

 

“You are even worse than James,” he replied.

 

“Trust the only person you’ve ever shown interest in ever to be a Malfoy. There’s some sick kind of irony there,” she laughed, nudging him fondly. 

 

“Please don’t tell anyone this,” he looked at her, a certain level of pleading in his gaze that she wasn’t used to.

 

“Al, James and I may tease you but if anyone else does, we’ll kill them. You know that right?” she looked at him. The school bell rang somewhere overhead and there was a collective groan amongst the other students. “Your secrets are always safe with me,” she reassured. 

 

“I haven’t seen him since Sunday,” he muttered, watching the other students regretfully start to move to class around them.

 

“Need me to track him down? I can get Lily to help. She’d love that.”

 

“As much as I love my sister I think the mocking from two people is enough for the moment.”

 

“Solo mission it is,” she smirked. 

 

“Maybe not yet. I mean, I only just met him?” It came out like a question, as if he was asking her if it was a reasonable decision to make. He’d never really been into relationships before and Rose knew a lot more about those kind of topics than he did. Not to mention James’ extensive knowledge. 

 

“Maybe give him the rest of the week. He could have assignments or something,” Rose shrugged, she tugged on Albus’ sleeve gently, reminding him that as much as they didn’t want to admit it they still had class to attend.

 

***

 

Albus was curled into a ball at the top of the cliff. Within the last week the moon had gone from full to half as it floated peacefully in the sky before him. It was Sunday again and part of Albus was starting to realise that if Scorpius didn’t show up again soon then maybe he’d have to face the thought of never seeing him again. It was either that or let Rose Facebook stalk the kid and that had always made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t quite sure why Lily always insisted on doing it either whenever she found out someone in their family had some sort of crush. He was incredibly grateful that she still hadn’t figured out what was going on with him. Somehow James had been able to keep a secret from her. Albus was pretty sure that this was the first time in his life that he had. 

 

“You must think I’m absolutely awful.”

 

Albus’ heart started racing at the sound of a voice he’d been waiting the whole week to hear. Which was of course, an absolutely ridiculous thought that he would have to keep to himself unless he wanted James and Rose to tease him for the rest of his life. “What makes you say that?” Albus asked, looking up at Scorpius as he came and sat next to him. 

 

“Well, you know, you met a mysterious boy on a clifftop. Then I just didn’t show up for a week even though I said I would. I didn’t even give you my number. Honestly, if you hadn’t asked I probably would have forgotten to tell you my name,” Scorpius rambled, eyes flicking between Albus and the moon, seemingly nervous.

 

“I really don’t mind,” Albus smiled faintly.  _ It was worth it to see you again _ . 

 

“I promise I’ll be more efficient next time but I sort of forgot about these two essays I was supposed to write and it was all downhill from there,” he admitted.

 

“How’d you go with them?” he teased.

 

“Horrible. Now, let’s never mention them again,” Scorpius laughed. “How was your week?”

 

“Told my best friend that I met some mysterious boy on a cliff, as you put it. Probably won’t ever live that down,” Albus shrugged, smirking.

 

“Did my name make it worse?” Scorpius looked genuinely concerned and Albus almost felt guilty.

 

“Maybe I should explain in greater detail,” he offered, gazing at Scorpius out of the corner of his eye. When he didn’t say anything, he continued. “My best friend is my cousin and I don’t really run in very large circles so the fact that I’ve even met someone to tell her about is a feat within itself. I guess, because you’re named after a constellation it just makes it somehow ironic? Fitting even.”

 

Scorpius smiled at that, eyes turning back to the moon. “Well, I hope she didn’t tease you too much.”

 

Albus laughed, “You know, my life is so incredibly boring I think she’s actually grateful she has something to tease me about at all.”

 

“Did she offer to Facebook stalk me and give you all the details she could find?” he smirked. 

 

“Of course. Rose is basically a professional when it comes to that. It’s actually horrifying. Don’t worry, I insisted that she stop herself from stooping that low.”

 

“She wouldn’t have found much if she tried,” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“Why’s that?” Albus asked, looking over at him again. Scorpius had turned sad and some kind of protective instinct was somehow sparked within him.

 

“Kids can be cruel,” he shrugged.

 

That was something Albus knew all too well. “I’m sorry,” he said, nudged Scorpius’ side gently like he did whenever Rose was upset.

 

“I try not to let it bother me,” he replied. “My dad … did some things in his youth that he’s trying to shy away from. I guess in some ways they always come back to haunt him.”

 

“I know what will make you feel better,” Albus smiled. He flopped down on the grass behind him and looked up at the stars. “I’m about 70% sure that I saw an alien constellation earlier,” he said. 

 

“How would you know if we have no idea what aliens look like?” Scorpius smirked, lying down next to him.

 

“That’s the fun part. They can look however you want them to.”

 

“An interesting prospect,” he mused. “So where’s your alien?”

 

“I’ll show you.” Albus smirked. “Look to the right of Scorpius and there it is.” Albus traced the constellation slowly, demonstrating how the stars appeared to form an alien.

  
“That doesn’t look like an alien at all.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, it does but it looks like the Hollywood version of an alien. You know with the warped face and all that. Aliens probably don’t really look like that,” Scorpius smirked.

 

“How would you know?”

 

“As creative as we humans can be I really don’t think we can fathom most of what’s out there,” he explained, indicating the sky as a whole. 

 

“You’re probably right,” Albus muttered, “but at least we’re creative at all.”

 

“I can’t fault you there,” he laughed.

 

“What do you think aliens really look like then?”

 

“I don’t know,” Scorpius turned to look at him. “They’re probably not humanoid. Maybe they’re more like something out a video game,” he shrugged.

 

“There’s probably so many races,” Albus mused. “I mean, all through the galaxy, you know.”

 

“Maybe one day our technology will be advanced enough that we’ll get to contact some.”

 

“The dream,” Albus laughed.

 

“You know,” Scorpius smiled, “you’re probably the best person I’ve ever met.”

 

“What do you mean?” Albus asked. “There’s nothing special about me.”

 

“I think we’ll agree to disagree on that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta daa! Ok, so I'll probably update this weekly from now on. So I'll see you all then :)
> 
> Side Note: I realised "I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be" was too long a title so I just shortened it to the song by OneRepublic. I'm trying to go for a celestial theme for each chapter (for obvious reasons).


	3. Did You Fall From a Shooting Star?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I actually wrote a plan so I sort of know where this is headed, but it's very vague so honestly this could end up going in any direction. But whatever happens, I hope you all enjoy it anyway.  
> Chapter title song: Drops of Jupiter - Train

“That is the face of someone who got laid last night” Rose teased upon seeing him the next morning, “and by laid I mean laid on the grass and stared and the stars with some boy that is equally as dorky as you”.

 

“You know, the thought of me legitimately getting laid is actually horrifying” Albus replied, falling into step next to her as they made their way to school buildings. 

 

“Oh, I know. I thought it was quite clever actually. You know, it was almost a pun” she smirked.

 

“You’re always clever, Rose” he rolled his eyes, returning her smirk.

 

“So he finally showed, aye?” she asked.

 

“Yeah” Albus’ smirk softened into a smile.

  
“A vaguely nostalgic and almost romantic Albus Potter is one I never thought I’d live to see” she nudged him fondly. “So was it worth sacrificing sleep for every night last week?”.

 

“Absolutely” he confirmed. 

 

“Did you get his number this time?”.

 

“Um, no, actually”.

  
“Albus!” Rose accused.

 

“I kind of … forgot … again” he trailed off. 

  
“I’m almost tempted to go with you next time, just so I can demand his number on your behalf” she said.

 

“As lovely as this side of you is I think it’s best to keep you from meeting him a while longer”.

 

“Fair point. Meeting the best friend is a very trusting step in a relationship”.

 

“You would know” he laughed.

 

“Shut up” she muttered.

 

“I’m just teasing, Rose” he nudged her.

 

“My soul mate better make all this waiting worth it” she replied, perking up again.

 

“Do you think soul mates really exist?” he asked. When Rose just beamed at him in response he rolled his eyes. “Why did I even bother asking?” he sighed.

 

“If they do, and yours isn’t named after some kind of celestial being then I for one am going to be very disappointed” Rose laughed as she pushed the door to their building open. Students were already milling about, most of them congregating around the lockers. 

 

“I wonder who yours will be. They’ll need to be incredibly determined if they want to keep up with you” he said. 

 

“You are the absolute worst” Rose muttered, rolling her eyes at him as the bell sounded overhead. The two of them laughed as they headed off in the direction of their first class. 

 

***

 

It wasn’t that Albus hated libraries. It was just that he hated when massive amounts of school kids were present because that ensured the noise level to increase ten fold. If he didn’t need to actually utilise the books then he would have definitely convinced Rose to return to one of their houses by now. Rose was tapping the table top with her pen in a steady pattern, almost like a clock ticking. It was something that she did when she was frustrated. She would gaze at her notes, or her textbook, or her laptop screen, whatever it may be with such intensity, a hand permanently clasped to her forehead in utter distress at the noise. Albus was genuinely concerned that one day she would just snap and yell at everyone else in the library, effectively getting the two of them kicked out. Though sometimes he wished that would happen, because it would be a lot less painful than the situation they were in now. 

 

“These books better be worth it, Al” she said to him, gazing up and watching as some primary school kids ran passed their table. 

 

“If I could borrow them and take them with us then I would” he replied. Reference books couldn’t be removed from the library. It was the worst thing that had ever happened to them.

 

“I can’t believe you can’t find anything about this on the internet” Rose muttered. 

 

“The only time it’s ever failed us” he smirked.

 

“It’s failed us twice actually” she looked at him across the top of her laptop screen.

 

“What do you mean?”.

 

“I can’t find your damn boyfriend on Facebook”.

 

“Rose” he sighed. “Firstly, he’s not my boyfriend. And secondly, he doesn’t have Facebook”.

 

“Cyberbullying?”.

 

“Yeah”.

 

“Trust” she muttered. “Well in that case I’ve got nothing on the kid. He’s not on any kind of social media. He doesn’t even have an abandoned MySpace profile from years ago”.

 

“Did you forget the part where I told you not to aggressively search the internet for him?” Albus asked, twirling his pen between his fingers absently.

 

“Al, you’re my best friend. Do you really expect me to not immerse myself in this entirely?” she asked, a smile pulling at the edge of her lips.

 

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised” he shrugged, turning back to the archaic book on the desk between them.

 

“You know me too well”.

 

“Sadly”.

A silence fell between the two of them. The library only seemed to get louder as more schools finished for the day and more students made their way in. Rose wasn’t quite sure how the staff managed to deal with this on a regular basis but she guessed that they didn’t quite have a choice. The next thing the two of them were aware of was a pile of books slamming onto the table next to them. Albus looked up at his sister accusingly, but the smirk on her face put him on edge. 

  
“Afternoon” Lily beamed, taking the empty seat next to Albus. She quickly pulled her laptop out of her bag and waited as it logged her in.

 

Albus exchanged a look with Rose quickly. If James had told Lily anything he was a dead man. 

 

“Al, have I ever told you that you’re my favourite brother?” Lily asked, pulling up her web browser and automatically setting up her five thousand social media tabs.

 

“Only when you want something” he replied.

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong here but you and James seem to be keeping secrets from me which is incredibly unusual. So I’ve been thinking to myself over the last week ‘what could possibly be important enough that both of them would need to keep it from me’ and I think I’ve come to some kind of conclusion” Lily announced, her eyes flicking between Albus and Rose.

 

“And what would that be?” Rose asked, thoroughly amused. 

 

“What’s his name?” Lily turned to her brother.

 

Albus groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He should have known that Lily would find out eventually. His sister was one of the smartest people he knew. 

 

“Rose?” Lily asked, turning to her cousin instead.

 

Rose held her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry Lily, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy” she said.

 

“Well this is all very curious then, isn’t it?” Lily smiled, she nudged Albus gently to get his attention. “What did you do? Fall for a college kid or something?”.

 

“Worse. Scorpius Malfoy” Albus looked his sister dead in the eyes. 

 

Lily burst out into a fit of laughter, stopping when she realised that neither Albus nor Rose had so much as moved. “Wait, you’re serious?” she muttered.

 

Albus nodded, eyes turning back to gaze at his abandoned textbook. 

 

“Well, I did see him once and he  _ is  _ attractive” she mused.

 

“Lily!” Rose chastised. 

 

“No, she’s right” Albus said, rubbing a hand over his hair absently.

 

“Since when do you find people attractive?” Lily teased.

 

“Hey, I can find people attractive. You know, aesthetically” he defended.

 

Lily and Rose shared some kind of look that he didn’t quite understand before they both burst out laughing.

 

“When you’re both done mocking me for my choices in life do you think we could look at this objectively?” he asked.

 

The two girls stopped laughing, Rose giving him an apologetic smile as she turned off her laptop and pushed it to the side. Lily did the same, moving her small pile of books so that they were resting on her laptop. She’d have to remember to borrow them all later. 

 

“So how do you want to tackle this?” Rose asked, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forward.

 

“I was hoping you would have some idea”.

 

“I mean” Lily muttered,  ruffled her hair for a moment to try and sort out her thoughts, “I guess the question is, do you want to date him?”.

 

“Um … I don’t know?” Albus replied, looking at his notebook instead of at the two of them.

 

“We’re pushing you too hard” Rose said. “Spend more time with him. Things will start to fall into place as they should” she shrugged.

 

“This is all so very exciting” Lily beamed at the two of them. 

 

“I think it’s a little terrifying actually”.

 

“Al, you’re always so uptight” she nudged him teasingly. 

 

He shrugged. “That just the way I am?” he offered.

 

“I know”.

 

“If you’re done with that stupid book then do you think we could get out of here? I’m about three milliseconds from punching that guy over there” Rose explained.

 

Albus nodded, started shoving everything into his bag. Lily offered to put the book back for him, she had to borrow hers anyway. 

 

“I’ll see you at home” she said.

 

“Perks of living under the same roof” he replied, throwing his bag over his shoulder easily and giving Rose a look that warned her not to explode while they were still in the library. 

 

***

 

Jupiter was very bright in the sky above him and even though Albus knew he should be spending less and less time on the cliff with his assignments starting to pile up he couldn’t bring himself to stay away. It was Wednesday and he had an essay due in two days that he hadn’t even started thinking about. Rose had already finished hers. She already had hers ready to hand in, he’d gone over it for her that morning. It was definitely worthy of an A+. Albus was an absolutely horrible student at the best of times. He was definitely the world’s worst procrastinator. He started going over the essay in his head, he’d have to start thinking about it soon enough anyway. Maybe tomorrow he’d actually attempt to make a start on it. He got so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even register when Scorpius dropped silently next to him.

 

“Is that Mars?” Scorpius asked, pointing to the brightest star above them.

Albus jumped slightly, not expecting to hear anyone else’s voice. “No, it’s Jupiter” he recovered.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” Scorpius smiled.

 

“Just zoned out a little” he shrugged.

 

“Do you use the stars as a form of escapism?” Scorpius teased, nudging him gently. 

 

Albus laughed at that. Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t. Either way he just really liked looking at them.

 

“I’m really glad you’re up here tonight” he muttered, voice quieter this time.

 

“What do you mean?” Albus asked. As he looked up at Scorpius he suddenly realise how  _ sad  _ the other boy looked. He wasn’t looking at Albus, instead picking at his coat, fingers moving constantly as if fidgeting was keeping him sane. His hair was messy, as if he’d been pulling at the ends constantly. “What’s wrong?” Albus amended his question, concerned. 

 

Scorpius looked up at him then, something playing behind his eyes that Albus couldn’t quite understand. He sat up straighter, pulling his knees up to his chest in the way that Albus usually did. “Remember when I told you that my mum was sick?” he muttered, voice almost quiet enough to be drowned out by the wind.

 

_ Oh no _ , Albus thought. “I remember” he answered.

 

“She seems to be getting worse. And I know I’ve only just met you and you don’t even know me but I didn’t have anyone else to talk to. I’m so sorry” he rushed, dropping his head against his knees as if to try and hide from the other boy. 

 

“Don’t apologise” Albus replied automatically, he shifted a little closer to Scorpius, toying with the idea of putting an arm around him in comfort. “It’s kind of nice that you trusted me enough to tell me that”.

 

“I don’t have friends” Scorpius said, looking up at him again. “People avoid me usually so I don’t have any friends and I think you’re the first person to talk to me, outside of my family, without any malice in their voice for a good few years”.

 

Albus slid an arm around Scorpius’ shoulders cautiously, not wanting to startle him, but it seemed to comfort him somehow. He leaned into Albus a little. “My only friends are related to me. People outside of that don’t like me either” he muttered. 

 

“Seems we have a lot more in common that just the stars”.

 

“Seems like that”.

 

“This must seem really strange for you” Scorpius smiled faintly. “You’ve only just met me and here I am telling you all about my problems”.

 

“You know” Albus mused, “I don’t actually mind”.

 

“I appreciate that”.

 

“If you want to talk about your mum more, we can” he shrugged”.

 

“Are you sure?”.

 

“Absolutely” Albus smiled, he moved his arm so it was just resting behind Scorpius instead. Scorpius still leaned into him and he tried to ignore the fact that it was making his heart race. Now was not the time to be dealing with that.

 

“She has cancer” Scorpius said quietly, twisting and untwisting his hands in his lap. He shifted so that his legs were spread out in front of him, making it easier to pull at his coat and whatever else he felt the need to fidget with. “My dad is being very supportive and everything but … he’s worried. He was in a very dark place when he met her and she pulled him out of that. I mentioned that he did some terrible things when he was younger. He came from a terrible family, but when he married my mum and when they had me he turned away for all of that. I don’t want him to lose her”.

 

“The cancer survival rates are very high these days” Albus replied, watching Scorpius’ hands. “She’ll pull through this”.

 

“I hope so. I mean, I don’t want to lose her either, but she’s the whole world to my dad”.

 

“My parents are a little like that as well” Albus muttered. “They’re each other’s sun and stars”.

 

“It’s nice isn’t it? Knowing love like that can exist. Reassuring even” Scorpius shrugged. 

 

The conversation was so quickly turning to something that Albus wasn’t sure how to face. Romance wasn’t something that he had experience with, aside from seeing it happen around him. Even though he believed it to be the closest thing to magic to exist in this world, Albus was sure that love wasn’t something that would happen to him. He tried to think of a reply that would sound somewhat decent but wasn’t quite sure what to say.

 

“That was a little much, wasn’t it?”.

 

“No, that’s ok” he shrugged.

 

“You are quite amazing though” Scorpius muttered.

 

Albus had to make a mental note of this because somewhere in his brain he thought that this might have been what flirting was. He needed to talk to Rose. Or James. Hell, even Lily knew more than he did. He just needed to talk to someone who actually knew what the fuck he was supposed to do right now. Scorpius looked genuine and honest and people didn’t usually look at Albus like he was right now. “How would you know that if you don’t really know me?” he smirked, trying to recover with a joke as his brain seemed to short-circuit. 

 

Scorpius laughed at that. He pushed away from Albus again, sitting up so that he wasn’t leaning into him anymore. Albus hoped that he’d said the right thing. “I feel like I know you quite well for some reason”.

 

“I probably talk way more than should be allowed”.

 

“I probably do the same” he smiled. Something made a small beeping sound and Scorpius seemed to realise automatically that it was his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket quickly, swiping his lock screen after a split second and putting it back. “Those damn spam emails” he said under his breath.

 

_ Phone, Albus. Get his phone number _ , his brain was telling him. Albus had no idea how to socialise and it was something that always came back to haunt him. “Um” he muttered, losing his train of thought again as Scorpius looked up at him. “Do you want my number?” he asked. “I mean - dammit” he muttered, a hand going to his forehead automatically. When he looked up again Scorpius just seemed amused. “What I’m trying to say” he amended, “is that if you want I can give you my number and you can message me whenever you want. About your mother or anything really”.

 

“That’s actually sweet of you” Scorpius replied. “You know, to offer that” he pulled his phone out again, unlocking it and pulling up a new contact before handing his phone to Albus. 

 

Albus took the phone, holding it so carefully as if he was afraid that it would break in his hands. He typed his number, quickly adding a star emoji after his name before handing it back. Scorpius laughed at that as Albus pulled out his own phone and held it out for him. 

 

“Makes sense for me to give you my number too” he said, taking Albus’ phone easily. When he handed it back Albus noticed that he’d put a sun emoji after his name and laughed. “I was trying to keep up with the space theme” he shrugged. 

 

“No, it’s great” Albus smiled, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

 

“It’s getting quite late and I don’t want to keep you too long”.

 

“That’s not you. I spend too much time up here anyway”.

 

“Procrastinating?” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Absolutely”.

 

When Scorpius stood up Albus realised that the night was well and truly over. He was almost tempted to ask him to stay, even if it was just for a bit longer, but he knew that was probably not a great idea. So he stood as well, wiping grass off his coat absently as he did so.

 

“Albus?”.

 

He looked up at Scorpius, “Yeah”.

 

“Thank you. For the talk, and your number, and just everything really” he shrugged, shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat as a strong gust of wind blew around the two of them.

 

“It’s ok, really” Albus reassured.

 

“I just want you to know that I really appreciate it”.

 

“I know” he smiled.

 

“I’ll see you again right?”.

 

“You know where to find me” Albus replied, indicating the cliff with a flick of his hand.

 

Scorpius beamed at that, laughing just a little. “Make sure you get some sleep tonight” he said.

 

“You too”.

 

“I’ll see you next time”.

 

“I’ll just be alone in my room, eagerly awaiting a text” Albus smirked.

 

He rolled his eyes at that before waving and starting off in the direction of his house. 

 

Albus turned on his heel, walking in the opposite direction. He felt a little bit warm and fuzzy inside and made another mental note to mention that to Rose because it definitely meant  _ something _ . He just wasn’t quite sure what. Albus’ phone buzzed in his pocket and he almost dropped it in his hurried attempt to pull it out. There was a text from Scorpius, a picture of the moon with a simple message attached.

 

_ “It’s not nearly as impressive now, is it?”. _

 

Albus typed his reply quickly.

 

_ “I’m offended. Space is always impressive” _ .    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like it ended on a cute fluffy note, regardless of the lil sadness that was thrown in there. I'm always 100% supportive of a very tight-knit Potter family so that will be a constant throughout this (and anything I write for these guys, honestly).  
> This week has been a disaster for the world. I hope you are all safe. I'll see you next week <3


	4. Untouchable Like A Distant Diamond Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This fic is trickling out slowly and I keep hitting writer's block and it's terrible. But we push through it, my friends. I hope you all like the new chapter!  
> Chapter song: Untouchable by Taylor Swift (aka one of my fave songs she's ever released)

Albus wasn’t entirely surprised to see James sitting at the kitchen table that morning. He was leaning over a cup of tea and he looked a little sickly, which could have just been the sleep deprivation. He was pretty sure that he’d still heard James shuffling around in his room when he’d snuck back in earlier that night. He must have had some kind of assignment to work on.

 

“Group presentations will be the death of me” James said to him as Albus took a seat at the table across from him and picked absently at the toast on his plate. 

 

“Get paired up with horrible people again?” he asked.

 

“We’re in a group of five. Out of all five of us only two of us have done the actual work needed. Me included”.

 

“I can’t say that I’m not surprised you’re actually putting effort in” Albus smirked.

 

“It seems like it’s going to be a disaster” he shrugged.

 

“You’ll push through it. You always do” he reassured. 

 

“You were up late last night” James said, his normal smirk returning. He’d heard Albus sneak back in the early hours of that morning. Somehow he could deal with being tired better than James himself could. 

 

“Had a boy to meet” Albus shrugged again. 

 

“How’s that going?”.

 

“Well, I managed to get his number last night”.

 

“Finally” James beamed. “Took you long enough”.

 

“I have no idea what I’m doing, you know” he reminded.

 

“I know. It’s nice to see you trying”.

 

Albus remembered something suddenly, a question that he needed to ask. As he looked up at his smirking brother he was almost tempted to just forget it again, but James would be the best person to ask this. James would know. “I have a question” Albus muttered.

 

“A dating question?” James smiled. “Finally, my wealth of advice can come to good use”.

 

Albus shook his head slightly, ignoring James’ silliness. “If someone compliments you is that flirting?” he asked.

 

“Oooh. Have you two been flirting?”.

 

“I don’t think so, but I don’t really know what flirting is” he explained.

 

“To answer your question, compliments are definitely a form of flirting” he nodded. “I’m impressed, you know”.

 

“I’m glad you approve” Albus smirked.

  
“Hey, you’re happy. That’s what I approve of”.

 

Albus smiled at that. He was incredibly touched. Obviously, he knew how much his brother cared about him, but he was usually a lot more subtle about that. “Thank you” he said.

  
“If you need anymore advice you know where to find me” James replied, he stood up slowly, grabbing his cup of tea. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go yell into the void that is the group chat for this assignment”.

 

“Your bravery will be honored everyday”.

 

James laughed, rolling his eyes before retreating towards his bedroom. 

 

Albus gazed up absently at the clock in the kitchen. Time was passing slowly, bringing him closer to the time he would have to leave for school. He really wasn’t feeling it that day. Or any day, really, but he needed to tell Rose that he’d managed to get Scorpius’ number. That was probably a conversation better had in person.

 

***

 

“Morning sunshine!” Rose beamed at him as he made his way through the school gates that morning. There was a knowing smirk on her face that he was steadily realising would become a common occurrence.

 

“I got his number” Albus replied, cutting to the chase.

 

“Yes! I know you could do it” she beamed at him, throwing an arm around his shoulders as they started towards the school buildings. ‘Have you texted him yet?”.

 

“Only once”.

 

“What did you say?”.

 

“Just a silly space joke” he shrugged.

 

“Al, you’re so damn predictable” she laughed.

 

“I quite prefer myself that way, thank you” he muttered.

 

“I know” Rose smiled. “I quite prefer you that way too”.

 

“I don’t really know what I’m doing” Albus admitted. He’d never had a friend outside of his family. In essence, he’d never had to make friends before, since he’d always had his family anyway. So Albus was just a little bit lost. 

 

“Even so, you seem to be doing ok” she patted his shoulder reassuringly.

 

“That’s all very strange isn’t it?”.

 

“You need to give yourself more credit, Al. You’re a great person. Just takes the right kind of people to realise that”.

 

“Thanks” he smiled.

 

***

 

Albus watched absently as his mother went over some paperwork. There was no one else home. James had gone to meet up with the group for his assignment, Lily was at a friend’s house for the afternoon and his dad was working late that night. It was the perfect opportunity to ask his mother something he’d been worried about lately. If she saw Scorpius as some kind of ‘enemy’, like James had put it, then Albus would know never to mention his new friendship to his dad at all. He didn’t want to cause a rift between any of them, they were all so close. 

 

“Hey mum” Albus said, a little hesitant as he sat beside her. 

 

“Yes, Albus?” she looked up at him. 

 

“Can I talk to you about something?”.

 

“Of course you can” she smiled, putting the paperwork aside easily. Her children would always be more important. 

 

“It’s about a boy” he muttered, unsure how to really phrase that any other way. Even though he knew that no one would care if he showed interest in someone, it was still very new territory for him. 

 

“So that’s why you’ve been sneaking out a lot lately” Ginny smirked slightly. Harry hadn’t noticed, but her husband had always been less observant than she was. 

 

Albus was struck by that. He didn’t really want to get in trouble but knew that he probably would. He was pretty sure that you weren’t really supposed to sneak out in the middle of the night. “I’m sorry” he apologised.

 

“It’s ok, Al. Just make sure you’re getting enough sleep” she reminded. “This boy must be special”.

 

“He is” Albus confirmed. “I mean, I find him to be. There’s a bit of a problem”.

 

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked, turning concerned.

 

“I don’t want dad to be angry” he admitted. He was fidgeting, something that he only did when he was incredibly nervous. Albus had always had a good relationship with his father. He never wanted to disappoint him. 

  
“You know your dad doesn’t really mind who you date, Albus” she said, obviously thinking that it was the gender that Albus was worried about.

 

“No, um, how do I put this …” he trailed off.

 

“Take your time”.

 

“I guess I’ll just tell you from the beginning” Albus muttered. “Two weeks ago, when the eclipse happened I went up to the cliff. You know that, because you let me. I wasn’t the only one up there. I thought I would be but there was this boy up there too and we started talking and it was really nice. I’ve been sneaking out a lot to go up there in case he’s there too. I know that’s all well and good and everything but I haven’t told you who he is yet” Albus rushed, twisting his hands slowly.

 

Ginny didn’t say anything but her eyes had turned from concerned to worried. 

 

“I didn’t know this. We only traded first names initially. I mean, I have his number now but when I first met him I only knew his first name. James figured it out” Albus paused, his nerves were started to eat away at him. He would have to be blunt about this. There was no other way that he could put it. “He’s a Malfoy” he said.

 

“Is that what’s got you so worried?” Ginny asked, she almost seemed amused.

 

“You’re not angry?” Albus muttered, confused.

 

“Of course not. You’re allowed to have friends, Albus”.

 

“I’m not quite sure yet, but I think I might like him to be more than a friend one day” he admitted. It wasn’t really a thought that he allowed himself to think about often, but it was something that he was slowly realising to be true.

 

Ginny smiled at that. Albus hadn’t really showed any romantic interest in anyone before. It was bittersweet to see him do so. 

 

“Do you think dad will be angry? You know, because there’s a lot of animosity between him and the Malfoys”. Albus didn’t know too much about what had happened between his father and Draco Malfoy, but whatever it was must have been significant. 

 

“Your father can easily put all of that aside” she reassured. “All that matters to him is that you’re happy”. That was all that mattered to either of them, their children’s happiness. 

 

“Thanks mum” Albus smiled. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “I’ll try not to sneak out too much” he said.

 

“Just make sure you get started on that essay” she smiled.

  
“I’ll go do that now”.

 

***

 

By some incredible stroke of luck, Albus had actually managed to hand his essay in on time. He may have had seconds to spare as far as the deadline was concerned but the fact that he had handed it in at all was some kind of feat within itself. Albus could write essays, he didn’t find them all that difficult. It just took him so long to force himself to even start on them that he often didn’t have all that much time to actually work on any kind of assignment. The feeling of accomplishment had settled in and he fired off a quick text to Scorpius saying that he’d be on the cliff that night. Being up there would be reward enough for his efforts, but if Scorpius would be able to join him then that was even more special. It didn’t take long for Albus to receive a reply. 

 

_ “I’m proud of you. I’ll head up there tonight too” _ .

 

Albus beamed as he closed the two billion tabs he had open to complete his essay. There was something so therapeutic about that part of it. He mentioned something to his mother about heading up to the cliff on his way out, not wanting to sneak out again. She let him go, even if it was solely because he’d finished the essay. 

 

***

 

The night before them was so incredibly peaceful and Alus found himself feeling incredibly alive. Jupiter was still bright above them and the moon was once again working it’s way up to being full. There was something he’d been meaning to talk to Scorpius about. Now that he’d mentioned it to his mother, he should probably tell Scorpius who he really was. Whether or not he ever spoke to him again would be his decision, but Albus didn’t want to leave him in the dark any longer. Nerves nipped at him as he built up the courage to speak. 

 

“Scorpius, can I talk to you about something?” he asked.

 

“Of course you can” he smiled. “I’d like you to think that you can talk to me about anything”.

  
“I’m not quite sure how to put this” Albus admitted. Words weren’t all that easy for him when it came to talking to people. Especially if he was talking to someone as important as Scorpius was. 

 

“Words can be challenging” he teased.

 

“I was talking to my mum about you earlier” he said. That probably wasn’t the best way to start but he needed to tackle this in a way that somehow made sense to him.

 

“About me?” Scorpius asked, confused.

 

“I’ve been sneaking out a lot” Albus shrugged, “to come up here”.

 

“Albus, you don’t have to go out of your way to meet me up here, you know”.

 

“I don’t, really. I genuinely enjoy being up here with you” he said. “I feel like this is a longer story than what I originally thought, come to think of it”. He was starting to realise just how many people were involved in all of this. Rose, James, Lily and his mother. They all knew about Scorpius. 

 

“Take as long as you need” Scorpius smiled, flopped down against the grass easily. Albus could tell that he was tracing the constellations quietly, his eyes following an imaginary line between the stars. 

 

“Um” Albus muttered, looking down at his hands and trying to find the words. “So after we met my brother seemed to be able to tell that something had happened. I guess, I must have looked happier than usual? I’m not sure. So I told him that I met someone up here during the eclipse and we talked and everything. It sounds weird, I know, but I sort of tell my brother everything”.

 

“You two are close so I guess I understand that”.

 

“How do I put this?” Albus sighed, he pulled at his hair absently to try and help sort his thoughts out. “Our dads are mortal enemies” he said finally.

 

“What?”.

 

“I’m Albus Potter” he muttered. “I’m a Potter. My dad hates your dad”. Albus wasn’t entirely sure how Scorpius would react to that. He’d tried not to think about it too much in case it brought the end to whatever they had going for them. He never really considered the idea that Scorpius would start laughing, but that’s what he did. “I’m not entirely sure why you find this amusing” he said.

 

“Oh, Al, were you genuinely worried about this?” Scorpius asked. He sat up again, shifting slightly closer to Albus as if to reassure him. “Did you think it would bother me that our dads hated each other in high school?”.

 

“I didn’t want to cause issues with your family. You know, with your mum being sick and everything”. Albus was slowly realising that this entire thing was all a little bit stupid. Obviously he’d been worried about nothing.

 

“I hate to alarm you, dear” Scorpius smirked, “but I strongly believe that I can be friends with whoever I want”.

 

_ Friends _ , Albus thought. That sounded nice. There was a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest again and he remembered that he still hadn’t mentioned that to Rose. “I get a little caught up in my thoughts sometimes” he shrugged, as if that was some kind of explanation.

 

“If it makes you feel any better” Scorpius smiled, “I haven’t told my parents about you at all”.

 

“I think I just feel a little stupid actually” he muttered.

 

Scorpius leaned into him, his head almost resting on Albus’ shoulder. Albus wasn’t aware that he could genuinely enjoy closeness with someone. Usually just the thought of it made him panicky, but it all seemed so natural with Scorpius. “Did you genuinely think that I would stop being friends with you?” he asked.

 

“I don’t really know what I was thinking” he admitted. “I just didn’t want to stop seeing you”.

 

“You’re sweet” he smiled. “You don’t have to worry, Albus Potter, nothing’s going to change this”.

 

_ God, I hope not _ , he thought. “What’s your favourite planet?” he asked.

 

“Pluto”.

 

“Pluto’s not a planet” he reminded.

 

“He’s a planet in my heart” Scorpius replied, a hand going to his chest as if to emphasise the fact. 

 

Albus laughed. “It does seem a little rude to be discriminated against solely because of it’s size” he smirked.

 

“Definitely. Do you have a favourite planet?”.

 

“I don’t know” Albus muttered. “There’s probably so many out there”.

 

“What about just in our solar system?” Scorpius asked.

 

“I quite like this one actually” Albus smiled, looking at him.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “That was cheesy” he smirked.

 

“Sorry”.

 

“No, I agree. I quite like this one too” he smiled.

 

Somewhere in Albus’ brain he was being reminded that this was  _ definitely  _ flirting, but he didn’t want to think about that. He was a little too busy getting lost in how the stars were reflected in Scorpius’ eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy endings are what I live for to be quite honest with you all.  
> I'll see you all next week!


	5. Look How They Shine For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the first half of this chapter is Potter family fluff because I love them, honestly. This also features awkward beginning to flirt but have no idea what they're doing Albus and Scoripus and Rose being a great best friend.  
> I hope you all like it!  
> Chapter title song: Yellow by Coldplay.

The sun was actually shining the next day. It was such a rarity that it seemed the entire population of the country was confused. Every second Saturday, the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys met up and spent the day together. They’d done that for as long as Albus could remember. They would often spend the time at one of their houses but with the weather being so nice that day they actually went to the park instead. They weren’t the only family there. There were some little children playing in the playground, their parents keeping a close eye on them from picnic blankets, but it was nice to just spend time together as a family. James brought one of his favourite board games, so he could set up a game with Lily and Hugo. They made sure that they arrived early enough that they could claim one of the barbeques and brought a picnic with them. Everyone was growing up and getting busy so the Saturdays that they spent together were incredibly important to all of them.  

 

“You look particularly happy today” Rose smirked at him as they helped carry over the picnic supplies.

 

“I’m sure my level of happiness isn’t really big deal” he replied, easily.

 

“I mean, you’re even wearing a colour other than black today”.

 

Albus looked down at himself for a moment. “I’m wearing grey” he said.

 

“And maybe tomorrow you’ll be wearing a lighter shade of grey and eventually you’re work yourself up to wearing legitimate colours” she continued. 

 

“I highly doubt that”.

 

“It’s almost like Scorpius is bringing you out of your little emo self” she joked.

 

Albus rolled his eyes. “I’m still me” he said.

 

“And I’m still me” she replied, “which means I get to make fun of you”.

 

“How are you simultaneously the worst and best cousin in the world?” he asked.

 

“It’s my charm” she beamed.

 

“Or lack thereof”.

 

“Excuse you!”.

 

Albus’ phone beeped and he quickly re-adjusted the box he was carrying so he could pull it out of his pocket.

 

“Careful there, Al. You don’t want to seem too eager” Rose teased. 

 

“Shut up” he muttered, unlocking his phone with his now free hand.

 

“Texting your boyfriend?” Lily smirked at him, attempting to take the box out of his hands.

 

“He’s not my boyfriend” he replied, handing it to her.

  
“Wait, Albus has a boyfriend?” Hugo asked, popping up next to Lily.

 

“You bet he does” James beamed at them all.

 

“I don’t have a boyfriend” Albus looked at his youngest cousin. 

 

“You’re obviously talking to someone” Hugo shrugged.

 

“So? Aren’t I allowed to talk to people that aren’t any of you?” he asked.

 

“No” they all replied in unison. 

 

“Stop teasing Albus so we can get this food started” Ginny smiled at them all, ruffling Albus’ hair absently.

 

“Why?” he looked up at her, a hand moving to fix his hair up. Not that it was something he could fix. 

 

James, Lily, Rose and Hugo started moving along after Ginny. Albus took the opportunity to open the text he’d received from Scorpius without anyone looking over his shoulder. 

 

_ “This sunlight is really ruining my Dark Pale _ _ ™ aesthetic”. _

 

Albus laughed at that, typing a quick reply. He could see Rose making her way back over to him out of the corner of his eye and didn’t want her to see the messages for some reason. Scorpius felt like something he wants to keep to himself. And maybe that was selfish.

 

_ “How did you get the trademark symbol to actually work?” _ he sent back.

 

He was incredibly happy that it didn’t take Scorpius long to reply.

 

_ “I had to copy paste it from Google. It was a lot of effort” _ .

 

_ “The lengths you go to for that aesthetic” _ .

 

“You look like an absolute idiot, you know” Rose beamed at him. She pulled on his jacket sleeve, trying to prompt him to move and catch up with the others.

 

“I thought that was just my constant state” he replied, falling into step next to her.

 

“Of course it is, but you’re smiling down at your phone like Lily does when she reads about that boy band she likes”.

 

“What a horrible thought” he mused.

 

Rose laughed at that, “All I’m saying is, if you’re trying to keep this a secret you’re not succeeding”.

 

“I guess I’m not very good at that” he shrugged.

 

“It’s a combination of your lack of subtlety and everyone here knowing you incredibly well, I think” she said. 

 

“I guess I can’t fault you there”.

 

“Albus!” James called. 

 

Albus looked over to see that James was patiently setting up the board game he’d brought. Somehow they’d also managed to claim a picnic table. They must have been incredibly lucky that day.

 

“Do you wanna play Betrayal of the House On Hill with us?” he asked.

 

“Only if you don’t beat me again” he replied.

 

“I’ll play too!” Rose smiled.

 

“Perfect” James rubbed his hands together. “Pick your character” he said to the two of them once they were seated at the table.

 

“I can’t wait to smash you both” Lily smiled at them, overly sweet.

 

“What makes you think I’ll let you?” Rose replied, matching her smile. 

 

Albus’ phone beeped again and he dropped the pile of character cards in his hands to grab it.

  
“Hey, no boyfriends at the table” James chastised. 

 

“Good thing he’s not my boyfriend then” Albus shrugged, unlocking his phone instantly. He hated reading texts from the lock screen. It didn’t feel like he was really reading them.

 

_ “Of course. Makes me wonder if you’re as incredible in the daylight as you are at night” _ .

 

Albus could feel the blush rising in his cheeks and he noticed when the conversation at the table stopped. He could feel the eyes of his family on him. Rose snatched the phone out of his hand and he didn’t even protest.

 

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, reading the text quickly. “That is flirting” she stated. “That is blatant flirting. James look at this!” she handed the phone across the table.

 

Albus was a little too shocked to stop her as James took the phone and eagerly read the text.

 

“This is incredible” James muttered. “I can’t believe Albus is the only one of us being flirted with at the moment”.

 

“Well it’s not his fault you’ve already managed to scare away half your year” Rose teased.

 

“I’m just a hopeless romantic” he replied, dramatically holding a hand over his heart and handing the phone to Lily. 

  
“This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen” Lily looked up at him.

 

“This is the gayest thing I’ve ever seen” Hugo added, reading over her shoulder. 

 

Lily handed the phone back to her brother, smiling at him. And not even in a sarcastic way, just genuinely smiling. 

  
Albus took his phone back and read over the text again. “How do I reply to that?” he asked, eyes flicking between his family.

 

“Naturally you should flirt back” James shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

“I don’t know how to do that” he replied.

 

“Just be yourself” Rose nudged him. “Don’t listen to James and reply how _ you _ would. He seems to be into that, you know”.

 

“Um” Albus muttered, fingers pausing over the keyboard. He typed the first thing that popped into his head, sending it before he had time to think it over.

 

_ “I’m actually a mythical being that doesn’t exist outside of the night” _ .

 

Rose placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You did good” she said.

 

“Thanks”.

 

“Alright, now that we’ve all helped Al with his apparently vibrant love life we need to finalise everyone’s character” James said. “Then the game can begin!”.

 

***

 

Everyone was surprised when Hugo managed to win the game. With four against one they were sure that they would be able to pull through but after Rose died everything seemed to fall apart. It seems they couldn’t stop the end of the world and the destruction of the house and Hugo came out victorious. He was determined that he would never let James forget this, since he was the usual victor. James looked more than upset as he started packing the game up. The food was almost ready and they needed to clear the table again.

 

“And the victor is defeated!” Hugo laughed, holding both hands in the air and mimicking a cheering crowd. 

 

“You are the absolute worst” James replied, snapping the box closed. 

 

“Hey, be careful with that” Lily chastised, taking the box from his hands before he could do something to ruin it.

 

Hermione called them all over to help move the food to the table. Albus’ phone beeped in his pocket and he hesitated, pulling it out automatically.

 

“At least he’s a decent texter” Rose shrugged.

 

_ “If you don’t exist in daylight then how are you talking to me right now? #hacked” _ .

 

“A plot hole” Albus said under his breath.

 

“What?” Rose asked.

  
“Hang on, I’m thinking” he muttered before quickly typing up a reply. 

 

_ “You’ve discovered my secret. I only exist away from the night if it’s to talk to attractive boys” _ .

 

Albus slid his phone quickly back into his pocket before Rose could ask to see what he’d sent. “I think I may have flirted” he looked at her. 

 

She beamed at him. “That’s my boy” she laughed.

 

“That was the right thing to do, right?”.

 

“Absolutely”.

 

***

Albus and Rose were sitting on Rose’s bed. They had a textbook each and notes were spread around them. They both had a test the next day and as much they wanted to avoid studying, they knew that they had to. Even if it was just to go over the few things they didn’t quite understand. Rose usually nailed tests anyway. She had a pretty decent memory and she was great under pressure. Albus on the other hand, was terrible at tests. Even if he knew all of the information he needed, he would still forget most it somehow, only to remember it the second he left the examination room. He wasn’t sure how Rose managed, but he was sure that it wasn’t from his side of the family. And if it somehow was, those genes had definitely skipped him. 

 

“Rose, I need to ask you something” Albus muttered, gazing down at the piles of paper around him.

 

“Yes, you were reading from the wrong page” she answered, not looking up from the dot points she was writing.

 

“That’s not it”.

 

Rose sighed and looked up at him. “What did Scorpius do?” she asked him.

 

“What?” he muttered. “Nothing”. 

 

“Then what could you possibly need to ask me?”.

 

Albus blushed in embarrassment and shuffled a few of the papers in front of him to try and keep himself focused. 

 

“Is it about him isn’t it?” she asked, placing her pen down.

 

“How do I know if I like him?” Albus asked, not looking at her.

  
“You like him” she replied.

 

“How do you know that I like him?”.

 

“Al, he’s all you think about” she smirked.

 

“But you can’t read my mind?” he muttered, looking up in confusion.

 

“Not exactly, but I can tell when you’re thinking about him. You get all distant and doe-eyed and blushy. It would be adorable if it wasn’t just a little annoying”.

 

“Annoying?”.

 

Rose nodded, spun her pen between her fingers, a habit she’d picked up from him over the years. “I mean, I guess it’s not quite annoying. It’s just inconvenient timing” she indicated the mass amount of papers around them.

 

“I hope my grades aren’t slipping” Albus realised. Just the thought of that was a horror within itself.

 

“I’m sure you’re fine. Just be aware” she shrugged.

 

“What do you do when you like someone?” he asked.

 

“Al” she smirked.

 

“I’m inexperienced, ok?” he defended.

 

Rose shook her head slowly, still smirking. “Well usually, if the other person likes you back then you go on a few dates” she explained. “You’ve seen James when someone actually decides to try their luck with him”.

 

“James’ dates always end awfully” Albus reminded.

 

“Well obviously, this is James we’re talking about”. 

 

“He’s not really the best example is he?” he muttered.

 

“We don’t have very many” she shrugged.

  
“Touche”. He paused, going over his next question a few times. It was something that he needed to ask. And Rose always had all the answers. “Do you think Scorpius likes me too?”.

 

“Al, you sound like a fifth grader with their first crush” she laughed.

  
“I know” he sighed. “This is ridiculous”.

 

“Of course it is, but that’s just you. Our lives have always been ridiculous” she smiled.

 

“I can’t fault you there”.

 

“Look, I’ve never met the kid but I think there’s a good chance that he’s fond of you as well” she said.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Absolutely. Now we need to work on these notes”.

 

Albus nodded slowly, trying his hardest to stay focused. 

 

***

 

“You know when you’re studying for a test and you’re just overly aware of the time and can’t really focus. I really felt that today” Scorpius was saying as he came to sit next to Albus. It was always like this with the two of them. They never really said hi to each other, they just started their conversations straight away. It was almost like no time had passed, or they needed to desperately to talk to one another. Either way, Albus preferred it this way. It was unique to them. 

 

“I know exactly how you feel” he replied. “I had about a billion sets of notes around me and Rose was writing up her summaries and I just could not focus”.

 

“Maybe you were distracted” Scorpius said, a smirk forming. “I mean, if you don’t exist away from the night unless you’re talking to attractive boys that couldn’t really have helped”.

  
Albus groaned. “It sounded a lot better in my head” he admitted.

  
“No, it was great. Very clever”.

 

“I’m glad you appreciated it” he nudged him.   
  


“I always appreciate unsure flirting” he beamed at him.

 

“Unsure is the right word for it” Albus shrugged.

 

“If it helps” Scorpius nudged him back. “I have no idea what I’m doing either”.

 

Albus looked over at him. Scorpius was stunning, surely the entire world would see that. “I refuse to believe that” he said.

 

“What do you mean?”.

 

“You’ve absolutely had someone flirt with you before”.

 

“I can assure you, I absolutely have not” Scorpius laughed.

 

“The world has gone insane” Albus sighed, flopping down onto the grass behind him. 

 

Scorpius didn’t say anything, just continued to laugh.

 

“Could you move, you’re blocking my view of the moon” Albus teased.

 

“So moody today” Scorpius smirked, lying down next to him. 

 

“I’m always moody” he shrugged. 

 

“Can I ask you something?” Scorpius muttered, not looking at Albus but instead at the stars above them.

 

“Of course you can” Albus smiled at him.

 

“I have a recital coming up” he shrugged. “Would you like to come? You can bring Rose if you want. Or your brother. Or anyone really”.

 

“A recital?” Albus smirked. “I wasn’t aware you were in the fifth grade”.

 

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “It’s the senior recital for my music class” he explained.

  
“Ooh, what do you play?” Albus asked, sitting up again and gazing down at the other boy.

 

“Piano” he replied, meeting Albus’ eyes.

 

“Sometimes I forget that you’re a prissy private school boy” Albus smirked.

 

“My mum taught me” he shrugged. 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry” Albus apologised.

 

“No, you’re right” he smiled. “I come from a prissy family, but trust me, my parents have pulled as far away from that as they can”.

 

“They just want you to get the best education. I understand”. Albus pulled at his jacket absently, needing something to do with his hands. “So are you a classical musician?” he teased.

 

“My school likes to think I am”.

 

“How long have you been playing?” Albus asked.

 

“Since I was four. So about thirteen years I guess”.

 

“You must be good then”.

 

“Obviously” he laughed. 

 

“Why do you want me to come?” Albus muttered, not quite looking at him.

 

“You don’t have to. I’ve never really invited anyone before, but I thought that I should. You know, because we’re friends” he explained.  _ Because I want you to be there,  _ he thought. Scorpius looked away from him, back to the stars again as if he was silently regretting his decision. Albus saw that he was fiddling his his coat again. He was pretty sure that was only something he did when he was nervous.

 

“Rose has been hassling me about meeting you so I guess she can tag along” he smiled. 

 

“Meeting me?” Scorpius looked up at him again. “Why?”.

 

“I think she’s intrigued. I don’t have friends that she’s never met before” he shrugged.

 

“Well, you can bring her if you like. My parents will be there. I don’t know if that makes you want to back out or not”.

 

“Do you think they’ll hate me?” Albus asked, suddenly nervous as well.

 

“My mum won’t. Not sure about my dad but if he doesn’t like you I don’t think you’ll notice” Scorpius explained.

 

“That’s reassuring”.

 

Scorpius smiled, sitting up and nudging him again. “You don’t have to come”.

 

“No, I’ll definitely come” he smiled. “I can’t miss your senior recital”.

 

“It sounds absolutely horrifying, doesn’t it?” he laughed.

 

“Only a little”.

 

Scorpius looked at him, beaming. He leaned into Albus a little, resting against him, and looked up at the sky. “So if that’s Jupiter” he pointed to the brightest object in the sky, “then what’s that?”.

 

“That’s a plane” Albus smirked.

 

***

 

Their math classroom had always been chaotic no matter what year they were in. Regardless of whether this subject was an elective or not, it somehow brought out the worst in people. Albus had discovered that it normally came back to the teacher. If you had a bad teacher, then you were screwed for the whole year. That was the position that Albus and Rose had found themselves in. The two of them were often able to pass notes in class, writing on the edges of each other’s books or having a loose leaf of paper sitting between them. Albus ripped a page out of his math book, the grid paper was starting to make him feel sick as they went over the same topic for the two hundredth time. He placed the paper in between the two of them. Rose looked up briefly before gazing back at the board. Albus twirled his pen between his fingers before writing a short note.

 

_ I have to ask you something. _

 

Rose looked up, taking only a few seconds to write a reply.

 

_ What did Scorpius do this time? _

 

Albus rolled his eyes. He didn’t even need to look over to know that his cousin was smirking.

 

_ He plays piano _ .

 

Rose finished her sentence before reading over his small note.

 

_ Hot. _

 

Albus sighed before writing back. 

 

_ He has this recital and he invited me to go. He said I could bring you if I want to so I guess I’m asking if you’d like to go.  _

 

He looked back at the whiteboard, jotting down the notes that he’d missed as Rose read over his message. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before writing back.

 

_ Does this mean I get to finally meet your boyfriend? _

 

_ He’s not my boyfriend. _

 

_ I’ll go with you. I hope he’s as hot as you make him out to be. _

 

Albus rolled his eyes, nudging his cousin gently. “He’s better” he said to her. 

 

“Good” she smirked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me explain, I came across that gifset of Tom Felton talking about the inside of Malfoy Manor and how there's an organ in the house ("That's something we didn't know about him. Draco is a fantastic organist" or something like that) and I started thinking about the Malfoys being musical and Scorpius being musical and it was downhill from there, my friends. So have a little dorky headcannon, I guess.  
> Until next time!


	6. The Way Our Horizons Meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been longer than it should have and I'm very sorry about that, but here's the new chapter. This fic has been giving me a little trouble with writer's block and I don't like posting if I haven't written ahead a little so that's why it took so long. Again, I'm very sorry. I hope you all enjoy this though!  
> This chapter features Rose being amazing and shy, flirty Albus and Scorpius.  
> Title song: All The Stars by Ed Sheeran.

As much as Albus was usually put together enough to at least dress himself, it seemed he was having a considerable amount of trouble trying to do up his shirt this time. He didn’t even own a button up shirt aside from his school uniform so he’d had to borrow one from James. It was just slightly too big on him but at least he sort of looked like he could appear to belong somewhere he usually didn’t. He knew that Scorpius went to a private school. He even knew which one it was now. He didn’t entirely know what to wear but Rose had suggested that he put some effort in and dress up, hence the button up shirt. It was in no way what Albus usually wore, and he was finding himself to be just a tad uncomfortable. Hopefully he could pull this off. He wasn’t used to trying to fit where he knew he didn’t. He usually just avoided those kinds of situations entirely. There was a small knock on his door and he was vaguely aware that he heard the sound of it opening. 

 

“Should I wear a tie?” he asked, not even looking at who entered. It would be either James or his mother. Or Lily if she felt like mocking him.

 

“You’re really putting a lot of effort into this, aren’t you?”.

 

It wasn’t a voice that Albus was expecting to hear. Not that it was unwelcome, it just wasn’t expected. 

 

“I’ve never really been to a recital before, dad. I have no idea what I’m doing” he turned to face his father. There was a smirk on Harry’s face that was so eerily similar to James’.  _ So that’s where he gets it _ , Albus thought.

 

“If you’re going to wear a tie, try a green one. It’ll bring out your eyes” he suggested.

 

Albus nodded, finally managing to do up the top buttons of his shirt. He started stuffing it into his pants unceremoniously, knowing that he needed to tuck it in. 

 

“So when are you going to tell me about your new friend?” Harry asked. He could see how nervous Albus was. He was just a little bit flustered and that was only enhanced when he started blushing at Harry’s question. He walked into the room and sat on the edge of Albus’ bed, hoping that would somehow make him more comfortable. 

 

“Um” Albus muttered, not quite looking at his father but pulling on his sleeves absently, trying to look like he was fixing them. “About that” he muttered.

 

Harry patted the spot on Albus’ bed next to him and waited for him to sit down. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He knew Albus, they’d always had a good relationship between the two of them. Harry understood him in ways that Albus didn’t even seem to know or understand. He could tell when his son was hiding something.

 

“I don’t want you to be mad at me” Albus admitted, twisting his hands in his lap.When Harry didn’t say anything in response Albus looked up at him only to see that he looked incredibly confused. “My new friend is Scorpius Malfoy and I’ve been keeping it from you because I don’t want you to be angry. You know, because there’s history between you and that family” he rushed, looking down again quickly.

 

“Did you think that would matter to me?” Harry asked, startling Albus enough to look up at him. “Albus, I’m just glad you’ve found another friend”.

 

“Mum said you would say that” he muttered, feeling just a little silly that it had taken this long for him to have this conversation.  _ Of course _ his dad wouldn’t mind who he was friends with. This was his dad. His dad was the best. 

 

Harry placed a hand on Albus’ shoulder, smiling at him. “How about I get you that tie?” he said.

 

“Thanks dad”.

 

***

 

When Rose arrived she was wearing a red dress, he curly hair was piled neatly on top of her head and she looked lovely. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from smirking at her cousin as she took in his appearance.

 

“Well, don’t you clean up nice” she teased.

 

“This is James’ shirt and my dad’s tie” he said. “I don’t even own this kind of clothing”.

 

“You look great Albus. The tie matches your eyes” she smiled.

 

“Apparently”.

 

“If he doesn’t comment on that then I’ll be offended”.

 

“ _ You’ll  _ be offended?”.

 

Rose laughed, she placed a hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “You’re a lot more nervous than you think” she said. 

 

“I’m a lot more nervous than you think as well” he admitted, not really looking at her but passed her shoulder. 

 

“You have nothing to worry about” she reassured.

 

“If his dad hates me, it’s all over” Albus reminded. 

 

“Relax, Albus”. 

 

“Oh Rose, you look lovely” Ginny smiled as she appeared in the doorway, her car keys in her hand. 

 

“Albus cleans up nice, doesn’t he?” she teased.

 

“I hate you” he muttered.

 

“It’s a shame your hair can’t be tamed” Rose smirked. “I guess it’s symbolic, you know. It’s like your love for Scorpius”. The horrified look on Albus’ face made the comment worth it. She laughed and tugged on his sleeve. “Come on, you don’t want to be late do you?”.

 

***

 

All that Albus truly knew was that he could feel a lot eyes on him. It was something he probably should have been used to by now, since he’d been dealing with it his whole life - being Harry Potter’s son somehow latched him onto his father’s fame - but he never really got over the incredibly awkward feeling in his chest. Rose was a lot better at dealing with these sort of situations. She stood up straight and held her head up high, linking her arm through his as they started walking into the school. It was one of the many times that Albus was reminded how much like her mother Rose was. 

 

“Don’t give them attention. That’s what they want” she said to him as they made their way through the large iron gates of Hogwarts. Albus had never been to the school before and he wasn’t quite sure what he expected but the place looked as much like a castle as it could be without really being one. Hogwarts was the oldest school in the city, over centuries old. No one really even knew when it was built. It had just always been there. Maybe it had been a castle one day. It was probably something that would never be discovered. 

 

“How could you possibly know that?” he asked her, pulling at his tie absently. Maybe he’d started to pick up Scorpius’ fidgeting. He wasn’t quite sure.

 

“These sorts of people live to make you uncomfortable, Al. You have as much right to be here as they do. Especially because you were invited”.

 

“You’re incredible, you know that?” Albus muttered, looking over at her in awe.

 

“You must be incredibly nervous if you’re going to start complimenting me” Rose smirked. 

 

“I just remembered something” Albus said, trying not to look at a smartly dressed couple as they gave him an unimpressed once over. 

 

“Was it your dignity?”.

 

“No, this is the first time I’ll be seeing Scorpius away from the cliff. What if he doesn’t like me anymore?”.

 

Rose started laughing and didn’t stop until they’d reached the large double doors that the stream of people had been heading towards. There was a sign next to the door that said The Great Hall. “Al, you’re absolutely ridiculous” Rose smiled at him. 

 

Albus just shrugged, a jerky movement that truly gave away just how nervous he was. 

 

“He’ll like you no matter what” she reassured, softening. 

 

The two of them entered the double doors. The room was filled with students milling around and talking to what must have been their families. Albus did a quick scope of the room but couldn’t seem to spot Scorpius anywhere. There was way too many people here for that. Rose tugged on his arm gently, pulling him towards the side of the room. She mentioned something about texting Scorpius to let them know they were here but Albus was too busy still scanning the room to really register what she was saying.

 

“It’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?” he asked, turning to look at her.

 

“What is?”.

 

“We could have studied here as well” he shrugged. “I think our lives might have been drastically different”.

 

“Well, you still would have been a dork” she teased.

 

“Albus!”.

 

Albus turned at the sound of his name and saw Scorpius. He was wearing his school uniform, grey slacks, a button up shirt with a green blazer and tie. For some reason there seemed to be different coloured blazers in the room, green, red, yellow and blue. Albus wasn’t sure why but he decided that green was definitely a good colour on Scorpius, who was absolutely beaming and looked more than thrilled to see him. Albus felt his heart stutter at the sight of him. Scorpius came over and immediately threw his arms around Albus. 

 

“You came! You really did!” he beamed.

 

“Uh, hi” Albus muttered, hugging Scorpius back. They’d never hugged before but he was finding it to be incredibly pleasant.  

 

“Sorry” Scorpius apologised, pulling away from him again, “I get really jittery when I’m nervous”. 

 

“No, it was great. Hugging you is great” Albus smiled, ran a hand through his hair absently. Suddenly he was a lot calmer. He was definitely still nervous but the eyes that he could feel on him weren’t important anymore. 

 

“You look … really good” Scorpius said, giving him a once over. He pulled at his tie, almost loosening it, as if he was finding it harder to breath. 

 

“I could say the same about you”. 

 

Scorpius smiled and rocked back on heels before turning to look at Rose. “And you must be Rose” he said, holding out a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you”.

 

“I can safely say I’ve heard an awful lot about you as well” she replied, shaking his hand politely. She’d been trying to bite down on her lip so that she wouldn’t laugh at the two of them. She made a mental note to start up a bet pool with her cousins and brother about the prospects of the two of them. It would definitely be worth it. 

 

Scorpius laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets because he was practically shaking with nerves and he didn’t want either of them to notice. Even if he was sure that Rose had already. “Somehow you don’t look how I expected you to”.

 

“I think a lot of people feel that way” she admitted.

 

“It’s not a bad thing”.

 

“Oh, I know” she laughed. 

 

“I don’t know why but I’m suddenly filled with an incredible amount of relief that you two are getting along” Albus said, eyes flicking between the two of the them. Maybe it was because Rose was his best friend, and Scorpius was growing steadily important to him, but he was just so happy that they seemed to like each other. Maybe the three of them could become a trio like his father, aunt and uncle. He wasn’t sure but his heart was swelling with happiness, attempting to push his nerves to the side as it did. 

 

“I’m just good at pretending” Rose smirked at him.

 

“You’re as good an actor as you are a liar” he replied.

 

Rose just rolled her eyes at him in response. 

 

“I’m really glad you could come” Scorpius smiled. “Both of you” he looked at Rose.

 

“You’re my friend” Albus shrugged. “I wouldn’t miss this”.

 

“So how does tonight work?” Rose asked, subtly trying to cut in between their obvious flirting. She could sense how nervous they each were and couldn’t help smirking to herself because that insanely adorable. At least she knew her cousin’s heart was in good hands. Scorpius seemed as angelic as Albus described him to be. 

 

“Oh right. That’s easy” Scorpius replied before going on to explain the night ahead. 

Eventually it was time for everyone to take their seats. Scorpius gave Albus another hug before he had to leave to go backstage. Albus could feel that Scorpius’ heart was beating really quickly in his chest and that he seemed to be shaking. He knew it was the nerves. He would feel the same in his position, but somehow the hug seemed to help, even just a little. It seemed to calm him. Albus found himself feeling a little smug that he’d managed to have that kind of effect at all. He wasn’t sure why but being someone that helped ground Scorpius seemed incredibly special. 

 

“Do you think he’s as good at piano as he is at flirting with you?” Rose asked, smirking at him as they took their seats.

 

“I’m sure he’s even better” he replied.

 

“How long did you say he’s been playing again?”.

 

“Ten years, I think. Something like that”.

  
“Prepare to be blown away, Potter” she said.

 

“I’ve been blown away since the day I met him” he muttered.

 

Rose nudged him, trying not to laugh as who they assumed was the principal walked on stage. “Gay” she teased.

 

Albus just rolled his eyes in response. 

 

***

 

There seemed to be a considerable amount of people in Scorpius’ year because the recital started to drone just a little bit. Albus and Rose took to trying to annoy each other as quietly as possible to see how long the other would take to react. Albus kept flicking her arm and she would kick his foot in response and somehow that seemed to help make the time go faster. They both stopped when Scorpius finally made his way on stage. There was a piano on one side, an assortment of other instruments were pushed towards the back. Albus didn’t realise that he’d stopped breathing until Rose nudged his foot again, reminding him. He had no idea what the piece was called. It was something classical that he vaguely remembered hearing in a compulsory music class a number of years ago. All he knew was that Scorpius was an incredibly pianist and Albus couldn’t take his eyes off him for the few minutes he was on stage. Not that he could do that in any other situation either. 

 

“If you don’t date him then I will” Rose said, leaning towards him as the crowd clapped politely. 

 

Albus looked over at her, glaring.

 

She just smirked, “Al, I would never take away your one true love interest”.

 

“It would help a lot if you didn’t” he replied. 

 

“I don’t think I could even if I tried” she beamed at hi. 

 

***

 

The room was alive again as the stream of relieved students started to make their from back onto the floor to greet their families again and suck up as many complements as they could. Rose pulled Albus off to the side, trying to steer clear of the majority of the people around for a million different reasons. The two of them were leaning against the wall, their eyes scanning the room and taking it all in. 

 

“I think it would be quite different” Rose said, after a few moments of silence between them.

 

“What do you mean?” Albus asked, peeling his eyes away from the crowd and looking at her. 

 

“If we went here instead. I think a lot of things would be different” she shrugged. 

 

“Maybe you’d actually have more friends than just me”. Somehow he’d always felt like he’d been holding his cousin back from her full potential. There was a lot of guilt that he kept held up inside him.

 

Rose looked offended and upset, as if she knew what he was thinking. “Albus, I can assure you that I would pick you a thousand times instead of these prissy little brats”.

 

“That’s actually sweet of you” he muttered, looking down at the wooden floor. 

 

She nudged his side gently, prompting him to look up at her and offered him a smile. “Don’t be so hard on yourself” she said.

 

“I try, you know that”.

 

“I do. Your favourite person is making his way over”. Rose couldn’t help but laugh as Albus’ head snapped up, eyes frantically searching the space around them. 

 

“You were absolutely incredible” he said as Scorpius stopped in front of the two of them. He looked a lot more relaxed now, not nearly as shaky as before. His hands were in his pockets casually and he wasn’t nearly as jittery.

 

“You really think so?” Scorpius asked, his eyes lighting up as if he was surprised that someone would compliment him at all. 

 

“I would never lie to you” Albus confirmed. 

 

“You were probably one of the best here” Rose said. “And there were actually a few decent ones”.

 

“It must absolutely kill you to admit that” Albus teased. 

 

“A piece of me just died” she smirked. 

 

“Is it really that hard to be here?” Scorpius asked, not looking at them but down at his hands as he pulled on his sleeves nervously. 

 

“Scorp, we’re just joking. A lot of the people here have been staring at us all night because we don’t belong here” Albus explained.

 

“Why would they do that?”.

 

“I’m Albus Potter” he shrugged. “Maybe some of them hate my dad too”.

 

“Scorpius, shouldn’t you be trying to find your parents?” Rose asked, her eyes following as a girl was enveloped in a hug by her own parents. 

 

“Well, yes. But I wanted to see you two first” he admitted. 

 

“I don’t want to hold you up” Albus said. “They’ll want to congratulate you and everything”.

 

“You can come and meet them if you like. But you don’t have to” he hesitated, knowing how hard that would be for Albus.

 

“We’ll go” Rose smiled, linking her arm with Albus’ again. “I’m sure it’ll happen eventually anyway”.

 

“My dad really isn’t that bad” Scorpius replied. He turned and gazed around the room, quickly spotting his parents before he started to make his way over to them.

 

“Is it weird to be nervous?” Albus asked no one in particular, quickly following behind his friend.

 

“Not really. This is important to you” Rose replied. 

 

Albus was kind of happy that Scorpius wasn’t looking at them because he missed the shit-eating grin that his cousin threw him. “I hate you” he said.

 

“Scorpius!”.

 

The two of them stopped and watched as Scorpius was pulled into a hug by his mother. For some reason, Albus noticed straight away that Scorpius had her eyes, even if his likeness was more that of his father. He saw Draco Malfoy’s eyes flick to him and Rose and he paused. He seemed to be confused for a moment as recognition sparked in his eyes. Albus found himself standing up straighter, as if that would somehow make him appear something that he wasn’t. Draco only looked away when Scorpius hugged him as well. 

 

“Oh, Scorpius, you brought friends”.

 

Albus looked up at Astoria Malfoy and noticed that Scorpius had her smile as well. There was something bittersweet about that. “It’s nice to meet you” he said to her. 

 

“I’m Rose and this is Albus” Rose added, introducing the both of them. 

 

Albus was a little taken aback when he was pulled into a hug the same way Scorpius had been. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you too” Astoria smiled at them, hugging Rose next. 

 

“I met Albus on the night of the eclipse the other month” Scorpius explained. He seemed flustered, his nerves somehow returning. He wanted his parents to like Albus, enough so that he would be able to keep him around without feeling guilty about it. He could already tell that his mother loved him. His father was a different story. 

 

“Mr. Malfoy” Albus nodded politely, knowing to keep his distance. 

 

“Potter” he returned his nod. “Granger-Weasley” he added, looking at Rose.

 

Rose offered him a smile that he actually sort of returned.

 

_ Great _ , Albus thought,  _ he hates me _ . 

 

***

 

“Albus, before you go” Scorpius said, hesitating because he really didn’t want him to go. Or even Rose for that matter. The three of them were standing just outside The Great Hall. The night was wrapping up and the guests were starting to slowly make their way back to their cars. Ginny was already there somewhere, having texted Albus that she’d pick them up when it was over. “There’s something I need to tell you”.

 

Albus didn’t say anything, just looked at Scorpius, which was something he was quite happy to do considering how stunning he looked in that moment. And every moment, for that matter.

 

Scorpius pulled at his sleeves absently. “Your tie matches your eyes” he said, blushing just slightly. If they weren’t standing in the light flooding from The Great Hall Albus might not even have noticed the pink. 

 

“Green’s a good colour on you” Albus replied. He didn’t need to look behind him to know that Rose was silently laughing at the two of them. He didn’t want to care. 

 

“Really? You know, I’ve never really been fond of it but … then I met you. And your eyes are green. I guess, I find the colour quite lovely now” Scorpius shrugged, looking at the ground instead of Albus. 

 

“You feel unreal sometimes, you know?”.

 

“So do you”.

 

The two boys looked at each other. For a moment they didn’t say anything but then they started laughing and Albus pulled Scorpius into a hug. They probably held onto each other for a little too long but neither of them wanted to care.

 

“Let me know when you’ll be on the cliff next” Scorpius said, pulling away again. 

 

“Probably in a few days if I’m lucky. Earlier if I keep sneaking out” he shrugged. 

 

“Until then I’ll just have to settle for texting you” Scorpius smirked.

 

“That must be so hard for” Albus teased.

 

“Absolutely”.

 

“I’ll see you soon”.

 

“Can’t wait” Scorpius laughed. “I hope I’ll see you again too, Rose” he added.

 

“I’ll try and fit you into my schedule” she replied, beaming at him.

 

The three of them waved and then Rose linked her arm through Albus’ again and they were on their way. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Rose could feel her cousin practically buzzing with excitement next to her. She could tell that the night was something he’d go over a few times before he managed to get some sleep that night. 

 

“Albus, he is so fucking into you” she said to him, laughing.

 

“I don’t know if I deserve it, but god I want it to last” he replied, smiling up at her. 

 

“It will, I promise you that”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: The only recital I've ever been to was my sister's piano recital a few years ago and it was about a billion degrees on the day and dreadfully boring to attend (they were all little children just starting to learn piano/guitar so you can imagine I'm sure). So I based this instead off the few showcases that I experienced during high school. Hopefully it's sort of similar to what it should be?  
> I'll see you all soon!


	7. We're Stars and We're Beautiful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I have a feeling you guys are gonna like this chapter. It's super fluffy. I don't want to give anything away other than that.   
> Chapter title song: Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara

“So how was the recital?” James asked, adding too many sugars to his coffee. He noticed Lily put her book down, waiting for an answer as well. Albus took his time buttering his toast before taking a seat at the table with the two of them, as if he was leaving them in suspense. 

 

“He was perfect” he shrugged. He was quite sure that was was all he needed to say on the matter. That’s all they’d want to know anyway. 

 

“Did you meet his parents?” Lily asked, leaning forward against the table.

 

“Yeah”.

 

“How’d that go?” James took a long sip of his coffee.

 

“Mum seems to like me. Dad not so much” Albus muttered. 

 

“One out of two isn’t bad” he reassured. 

 

“What was Hogwarts like?” Lily quickly flicked a bookmark into her book, setting it aside. 

 

“Terrifying actually. People were staring and it was awful. The school itself was massive as well” he explained. 

 

“Did you get to see him much or did he have to be backstage the whole time?”.

 

“Scorpius? No I saw him a lot actually. He was really nervous”.

 

“Obviously he was concerned that you wouldn’t like him anymore” James teased.

 

Albus groaned. “I can’t believe Rose told you that”.

 

“Rose tells me a lot of things about you. It’s great. How were the hugs?”.

 

“There were hugs?” Lily beamed.

 

“Magical” Albus rolled his eyes at his brother. “Happy?”.

 

“Always”.

 

“Well, it sounds like he likes you” Lily said.

 

“I really hope so” Albus shrugged. 

  
“Can you keep me updated on this? It would be great to live tweet it or something” she laughed.

 

“You’re going to use my love life to gain followers?”.

 

“Al, take it as a complement. I don’t mention anyone on my Twitter unless I really care about them”.

 

“That’s reassuring”.

 

***

 

“Do you really think he likes me?” Albus asked. He and Rose were sitting under one of the trees on the school grounds. Even though the day was cloudy, it wasn’t raining yet so it made sense to utilise as much time outside as they could. 

 

“If the blatant flirting wasn’t enough for you, Albus, then I’m sure the way he was looking at you should be” she smirked at him. 

 

“I can’t believe this is really happening” he muttered.

 

“It’s happening”.

 

“What do I do now?” he turned to her.

 

“Ask him out, of course” she laughed.

 

“How?”.

 

“You just ask, Al” she smirked.

 

“I have no idea what to do on a date” he muttered, running a hand through his hair absently. 

 

“James and I can help you with that but we can’t ask Scorpius out for you”.

 

“Sadly”.

 

Rose rolled her eyes and nudged him gently. “I mean, we could, but it would be incredibly awkward. You can do this own your own” she encouraged.

 

“Just let me take my time with it”.

 

“Of course” she smiled. “Take as long as you need”.

 

***

 

“I don’t know if you know this or not” Albus said, “but next week there’s going to be a supermoon”.

 

“What’s a supermoon?” Scorpius asked. He was lying on the grass, staring up at the alien constellation that Albus still swore by. 

 

“Well the moon will be bigger than it’s been in 68 years!” he smiled. “I don’t know. I find it exciting”.

 

“You would probably find the end of the world exciting” Scorpius teased.

  
“Of course. That would mean the end of this hell planet” Albus laughed. “We deserve it. We’ve been treating in horribly”.

 

“Albus the environmentalist” he smirked. “That’s a new one”.

 

“Oh, there’s so many layers to me” Albus rolled his eyes.

 

“I do agree with you though. We don’t deserve this planet at all”.

 

Albus looked down at his friend.  _ There’s other things I don’t deserve either,  _ he thought. “If you had to live on another planet which one would it be?” he asked. “Pretending that it could sustain life, that is”.

 

“I don’t know” Scorpius mused, sitting up and leaning against him. He did that a lot now, just a little sign of affection that the two of them held between them. “I don’t even think I could pick another planet”.

 

“What about the love of your life?” Albus smirked.

 

“What?”.

 

“Pluto, of course” he laughed.

 

“Oh right” Scorpius smiled, looking away from him for a moment. “It would be so cold there though”.

 

“You don’t like the cold?”.

 

“No, I love the cold. I just don’t know if I’d be able to live with it all the time. It would be like Iceland, only a few hours of sun a day” he shrugged.

 

“More like a year”.

 

“That’s horrifying” he muttered.

 

“Well, if there’s no sunlight you’ll be able to see a lot more stars” Albus reminded. “A lot more than we see here”.

 

“Maybe you should move to Pluto then” Scorpius teased. “You’d love that”.

 

“I don’t think I’d be able to go anywhere without you” he said. “At least not that far away”.

 

Scorpius looked over at him again.

 

Albus held his gaze. “One year for me would be 248 years here for you. I don’t know if I like those prospects”.

 

“It would take a really long time for messages to reach you as well” Scorpius smiled.

 

“About 5.3 hours, I think. At least, that’s how long it takes sunlight. It’ll probably take longer for a text. If it even manages to get there”.

 

“You’re right. I don’t like those prospects at all” he mused.

 

Albus just looked at him for a moment. Their gaze locked on each other. His hand moved for a split second, as if he was somehow going to grab onto Scorpius.  _ What are you doing?  _ He thought, forcing his hand back down. He laughed and looked away again. “Plus, my family would miss me too much if I went to another planet, anyway” he tried to recover. They’d almost had a  _ moment _ . Somehow he found himself wishing for more of them.

 

“Who wouldn’t?”.

 

“I think a lot of people would rather get rid of me actually”.

 

“Am I about to unlock your tragic backstory?” Scorpius nudged him.   
  


“I don’t want to subject you to that” he smiled faintly, nudging him back. 

 

“Well, what if you took your family with you?” he offered.

 

“And leave you here? I don’t think so”.

 

Scorpius smiled at that. “You’re sweet” he said.

  
“So are you” Albus replied easily. And there it was again, another  _ moment _ . Scorpius was looking at him and Albus finally knew what it was like to feel breathless because of someone else.  _ Don’t get ahead of yourself _ , his brain reminded him,  _ you’re just friends _ .

 

“Well, this conversation has been absolutely thrilling” Scorpius smirked, flopping back down on the grass again. “How big do you think the supermoon will be?”.

 

“I don’t know. I haven’t ever seen one before” he replied, looking back up the sky instead. 

 

“I bet it’ll be beautiful”.

 

_ Like you _ . “Space is always beautiful” he muttered.

 

“You would say that” Scorpius laughed.

 

“There’s a lot of beautiful things in the world. Space is definitely one of the most”.

 

“It’s not technically  _ in  _ the world, though” he reminded.

 

“Maybe it can be in a category of its own then” Albus shrugged.

 

“I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this” Scorpius smiled, “but you’re adorable”.

 

“You’d be the first” Albus smirked.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Really”.

 

“No one at all?”.

 

“Why is that so surprising?” Albus laughed, looking down at him.

 

Scorpius wasn’t sure if he had an answer to that. “Because you’re amazing” he said anyway. “You would think that more people would see that”.

 

“I don’t think anyone sees me the way you do”.

 

“Lucky me” Scorpius smirked.

 

***

 

Albus wasn’t good at this. He wasn’t good at planning and turning his feelings into words. It was one of the many things he’d inherited from his father. Somehow it had conveniently missed his other two siblings and decided that only he would have this trait. Out of all the things his father had passed on to him, Albus liked this the least. He wished he could be as eloquent as Rose was. Or Lily, who’d been a master of words since she first learned to talk. Even James was better at this than he was. He could tell people he had feelings for them. He had terrible luck with those feelings actually being requited but that wasn’t was Albus was focusing on at the moment. It was one simple sentence, and yet it felt like everything was relying on it. If he fucked this up, it would all be over. Albus had convinced himself of that. 

 

The door to James’ bedroom was always closed but Albus could hear the sounds of a video game playing on the other side. He still knocked before entering. James smiled up at him as Albus closed the door behind him again. He quickly quit his game and tossed Albus his other controller. 

 

“I’ll let you play as Mario this time” James said as Albus took a seat next to him. 

 

“Considerate of you” he smirked.

 

“But I’ll be Luigi, who is clearly the better brother” he nudged him.

 

“Art imitates life”.

 

James laughed at that, quickly selecting his character and waiting for Albus to do the same. The two of them always did this when the other of upset. Somehow beating each other at Mario Kart helped them talk out their problems. Trying to sabotage each other with shells really helped them find the right words that they needed. “You doing ok?” he asked.

 

“I haven’t asked Scorpius out yet and I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to” Albus replied easily, eyes staying on the game.

 

“Of course you’ll be able to. You’re just nervous. This is all still new to you, you know”.

 

“I guess but I wish I could find the courage to just ask him” he shrugged, turning a corner and overtaking Princess Peach.

 

“You will. There’s no right moment for these things. Not like in the way people say. You can ask at any time and that would be the right moment anyway” James explained. 

 

“Sometimes it’s hard to remember why you don’t have some sort of romantic partner” Albus teased.

 

“My endless charm intimidates people too much” he replied.

 

“Yeah. That’s why” he smirked. 

 

James haphazardly slammed his kart into Albus’. “Oops” he beamed. “My bad”.

 

“I hate you” Albus sighed.

 

“Long story short, Al. You’ll find your courage”.

 

“I hope so” he muttered. 

 

“If this kid is an into you as Rose says he his, then he’ll definitely say yes” James reminded.

 

“I don’t want to even think about the possibility of him saying no. I’ll never ask him that way”.

 

“You’ll be fine. You just need to relax”.

 

“You’re not too bad at this advice thing, you know” Albus offered.

 

“I’m also not bad at beating you at Mario Kart” he smirked.

 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself”.

 

***

 

Albus and Scorpius were lying on the grass on top of the cliff, staring at at the sky above them. They were close enough together that their arms were touching and Albus was trying to ignore the electricity that was flowing through him as a result. It was a little distracting. They’d barely spoken, content just to sit next to each other in silence but Albus knew that he would listen to Scorpius talk about anything so he had to think of some topic to bring up. His brain was mush and he was finding it considerably difficult to do so.

 

“What’s your opinion on the moon?” he asked. It was a stupid, predictable question but it’s the only one that could make it’s way through his fogged up brain.

 

“The moon?” Scorpius beamed at him. “I think she’s a lesbian”.

 

“I highly doubt a celestial being can have a sexuality” Albus smirked.

 

“No, it’s a great thought. Listen, the moon is a lesbian. She’s in love with the sun, but when the moon rises the sun sets so they can never be together” he explained.

 

“Sometimes the moon appears during the day” he reminded.

 

“Shhh, you’re missing the point. It’s devastatingly romantic”.

 

“I really didn’t pin you as a  _ romantic  _ type” Albus teased, nudging his arm gently. 

 

Scorpius started laughing. “It’s something I overheard one of the girls at school say once and I thought it was funny” he said. 

 

“Well, it was pretty funny”.

 

“I knew you would appreciate it. Wait, was she in love with the sun or the ocean?” Scorpius muttered, lost in thought for a moment.

 

“Why not both?” Albus offered.

 

“You’re right! They’re all in love. Oh, that’s a nice thought”.

 

Albus looked at the boy next to him. Scorpius was smiling and Albus could feel his heart stutter in his chest because of it. This was his moment, he realised. With all this talk of  _ love  _ it made absolutely sense. “Scorpius, can I ask you something?” he muttered, hoping he’d be able to force the words out.

 

Scorpius turned to him, still smiling. “Of course you can” he answered.

 

If Albus hesitated it wasn’t because he meant to. It was because he was trying to line up the words in the right order in his brain so they wouldn’t come out as some kind of word vomit. He did that sometimes when he was nervous and he really wanted to avoid doing it now. “Would you …” he took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm, “like to go out with me?” he asked. Ok, he’d done it. He’d said it. Now he just had to wait for Scorpius to answer. Maybe Albus imagined his friend’s smile widening. This was even more nerve wracking that actually asking.

 

“Like on a date?”.

 

Albus nodded.

 

“I’d love to”.

 

“Really?”. Part of him had still been expecting a no. 

 

“Really” Scorpius answered. “How long have you been waiting to ask that?” he smirked.

 

“A while” Albus shrugged. “I had to go to my brother for advice. It wasn’t as unpleasant as you would think”.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “Well, I’m glad you did because now it means I can do this” he said, taking Albus’ hand and interlocking their fingers together easily. 

 

Albus knew that his eyes had widened and he probably looked like an idiot but Scorpius was smiling at him and this definitely felt nice. He squeezed his hand gently. “This is good” he said.

 

“How long have I been waiting to do that? Oh, a while” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Dork” Albus muttered.

 

“Me? A dork?” he laughed, his free hand going to his chest in mock-shock.

 

“I mean, you’re the one that said the moon was a lesbian”.

 

“And you’re the one that agreed!”.

 

“Details aren’t important” Albus waved his free hand absently.

  
“Details are the most important part!” Scorpius retorted. 

 

The two boys looked at each other, smiling for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. Albus decided straight away that James was right. Maybe there was no perfect moment for anything but with the right person any moment could become perfect. It was an incredibly cheesy thought that he knew he wouldn’t share with anyone else. Rose would tease him too much for sure.

 

***

 

Albus barged into James’ room without knocking this time. James had managed to move onto a different game but he was still in the same position that he had been when Albus had left. That wasn’t surprising at all. He was probably avoiding about twenty different assignments simultaneously. 

 

“He said yes” Albus said to him, turning towards the door again.

 

“That’s my boy!” James beamed, pausing his game and bounded over to Albus to pull him into a hug. 

 

The door crashed to a close and Albus cursed because his parents would kill him for that. Lily was in bed already, but luckily she was a heavy sleeper. 

 

“You won’t be able to sleep” James pulled away, “you’ll be reeling all night”.

 

“I have a history quiz tomorrow so hopefully I’ll be able to focus even just a little” Albus shrugged.

 

“You have absolutely horrible timing then” he teased. 

 

“Should I remind you of how bad your own timing is?” he smirked at him. 

  
“Nope, I think you should just go straight to bed. Off you go. Goodnight Albus” James muttered, shoving him towards the door again.

  
“Another time then” Albus winked at him before closing the door, very carefully, behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta daa! The ball has currently started rolling at a sprint.  
> Fun fact: the moon being a lesbian is a joke I have with some of my friends so I thought I'd just throw it in there for funsies.   
> Anyways, I hope you all liked this. I'll see you all next week! :)


	8. Like We're Made of Starlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only been a few days since I updated this but I've been working at it quite passionately and I really wanted to share the next chapter anyway. So here, have some Potter siblings banter, an emotional father-son moment, and some Scorbus fluff. I hope you all like it!  
> Chapter title song: Starlight by Taylor Swift (usually I try to not use the same artist more than once in a fic but I need to keep with the space theme).

“I can’t believe you’ve gotten a date before I have. I need to up my dating game. This is utterly ridiculous” Rose was saying as the two of them made their way to their next class. The corridors were full of students milling along their way. Between classes people often walked as slowly as they could. They could always feel the sense of impending doom that was experienced. 

 

“You know, your faith in me is highly encouraging” he teased. The two of them slowly inched around a group of kids a few years younger than them. As full as the hallways were, Rose would never want to be caught being late for class. 

 

“Oh, I’m proud of you. And I’m very very happy for you, Al, but am I also very very alone. And very very cute. Which is absolutely unacceptable” she explained, pulling on the straps of her backpack absently.

 

“You’ll find someone” Albus shrugged. “I know you will”.

 

“Well if  _ you  _ can find someone then there’s hope for us all” she smirked. 

 

“Your subtly always astounds me” he rolled his eyes at her, unable to stop a smile from forming. 

 

“So how did you ask him?” Rose asked. “You haven’t told me yet”.

  
“Trying to learn my ways so you can get a date?”.

 

“Absolutely not. I have my own charm, you know”.

 

“Of course you do” he smirked. 

 

Rose nudged him with her elbow, a little harder than usual but not enough to truly hurt him. 

 

Albus rubbed at his side absently. They turned their last corner, the classroom in sight. “Ok” he muttered, “what about that girl in your history class? Or the girl in your chem class?” he offered.

 

Rose shook her head slowly. “I don’t think I could date anyone that goes here. Do you know if Scorpius has any friends? Dating someone from Hogwarts sounds like a good option”.

 

“I hate to tell you because it sounds horrible but he doesn’t” he shrugged.

 

“Oh, that’s sad. Well, at least he has you” she smirked. 

 

“I’m sure he’s grateful for that” Albus laughed as they made their way through the door and took their usual seats. Rose always liked to sit up the front of the class, so Albus usually stayed next to her. If she wasn’t in a class with him he had the freedom of sitting up the back which was absolutely thrilling.

 

***

 

Scorpius was leaning against the wall outside of his father’s office. He was steadily building up the courage to be able to enter, but at the moment he was rooted in place. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous. He shouldn’t have been. His father had never given him a reason to be nervous about this before but maybe that would change in the moment. He pulled at his sleeves absently, trying his best to keep himself calm. There was no reason to worry about this, he kept telling himself. This isn’t even a conversation that he had to have if he didn’t want to. But it would feel wrong if he didn’t tell his father. Scorpius leaned his head gently against the wall behind him, taking a deep breath. He could do this. He turned the corner and paused in the doorway. 

 

“Dad?” he asked. 

 

Draco looked up at him. He was sitting at his desk, going over what looked like a massive stack of paper but Scorpius knew they were probably just important files that he was making his way through. He didn’t want to disturb him and genuinely considered leaving for a moment. “Yes, Scorpius?”.

 

Scorpius hesitated, twisting his hands in front of himself absently. Just one more burst of courage. “Can I talk to you about something?”.

 

“Of course you can”.

 

He took a few steps into the room, hovering close enough to the doorway that he could see his father starting to get suspicious. Draco looked like he was almost studying him, trying to figure out why he was being so hesitant and unsure. They’d always had a good relationship between them. There was no need for this kind of uncertainty, but Scorpius couldn’t help it.  “How mad would you be if I dated Albus Potter?” he muttered, not quite looking at him. He could tell that his father was surprised because he didn’t answer straight away. When he looked up again he could see that he was also mildly confused.

 

Draco thought over the question carefully. He took in his son, how nervous he seemed to be about his answer. Scorpius was pulling at his sleeves again, even more so than usual, and he wasn’t looking at him. It was a sign that his answer to this question carried a lot of weight, a lot of meaning for Scorpius. “Why would I be angry?” he asked.

 

“Um” Scorpius’ eyes darted around the room for a moment. He was trying to think of how to best answer that, but wasn’t quite sure how. “Because he’s a Potter” he decided on. “I know how much you dislike that family”.

  
“Scorpius, high school for me was a long time ago. It can be put aside” he reassured.

 

He didn’t know how to respond to that so he didn’t say anything.

 

“Does he make you happy?”.

 

“Yes” Scorpius didn’t even have to think about that answer. Albus made him happy beyond words. That much was obvious to him. 

 

“Then who I am to deny you that?”.

 

Scorpius couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He could feel a sense of warmth starting to swirl it’s way through him. “I,um, I really like him” he admitted.

 

Draco returned his smile but didn’t say anything. It was nice to see Scorpius so happy. All of them had been a little strained since Astoria’s diagnosis. He deserved this moment, and as many of them as he could get. 

 

“He asked me on a date and I said yes and I’ve never been on a date before but I don’t think he has either. I just hope it goes well” Scorpius continued. His eyes widened when he realised that he was rambling. “Sorry” he apologised. “I’ll leave you to your work” he took a step towards the door. 

 

“My first date with your mother was an absolute disaster so I hope you’ll have better luck than we did” Draco replied.

 

Scorpius looked up at him. “A disaster?” he asked. “I’m having trouble believing that”.

 

“Have we ever told you that story?”.

 

“No, you haven’t”.

 

“Well, you’re old enough to know now, I suppose”.

 

***

 

Albus hated homework more than anything in the world. He’d decided that when he was six and he received two whole pages of math homework to finish by the next day. It had only got more aggressive as the years went on. Now he had a whole chapter of math homework. It didn’t seem so horrible at first, only seven questions, but each question had twenty parts and Albus was quite ready to die if he was quite honest. He was curled up in his bed, his textbook sitting next to him and his notebook in his lap. He was spinning his pen absently in his fingers as he read over the question for the fiftieth time. It still wasn’t making any sense to him. He could remember having no problem doing this in class. Rose had explained it to him and it made perfect sense then. Now was another story. Albus looked up when someone burst into the room.

 

“You asked him on a date?!” Lily yelled. “Why didn’t you  _ tell me? _ !”.

 

“You know, I’m really not in the mood right” he muttered, but didn’t stop her as she took a seat next to him on his bed. The door crashed closed behind her.

 

“How’d you do it?” she asked. She was staring at him like she was studying him, or something. Like she was trying to get access to all his secrets just by looking at him. Albus wouldn’t have been surprised if she somehow did. 

 

“I just asked him” he shrugged.

 

Lily huffed. “That’s  _ all  _ you’re going to give me?”.

 

“What else is there?”.

  
“Well what did he say?”.

 

“He said yes”.

 

Lily rolled her eyes at him, a hand coming up to rake through her red hair impatiently. She looked a lot like their mother when she was frustrated. Lily and James had both gotten their mother’s brown eyes while Albus had been stuck with Harry’s green ones. He’d made his peace with it by now. “Well do you know where you’re going to take him?” she pressed.

 

“Take him?” Albus asked, confused by the question.

 

“Yes, take him. Out. On a date” she continued.

 

“I, um” he hesitated, “haven’t thought about that yet”.

 

“Of course you haven’t!”.

 

Albus didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He hadn’t thought passed Scorpius saying yes. He supposed that he had to plan things now, since he was the one that asked and everything. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He looked up at Lily and he could tell that she knew that.

 

Lily rested a hand on her brother’s shoulder, to help reassure him. “I’m going to help you” she said. “James!” she called towards the door.

 

The door popped open. “You called and I came to save the day” James smirked, leaning against the door frame absently. 

 

“Close the door and get in here, Albus has a date and he hasn’t even  _ thought  _ about it”.

  
“Well this is Albus we’re talking about” he replied, closing the door and coming to sit next to them. “What did you expect?”.

 

“I am right here, you know” Albus reminded.

 

“We’re very aware of that”.

 

Albus rolled his eyes. He loved his siblings, deeply, but he should have known they would take any chance they could get to mock him. He would absolutely do the same to them. 

 

“Alright” James rubbed his hands together, his smirk was tinging evil Albus didn’t want to think what that meant for him. “So what does Scorpius like? We have to make your date perfect, Al. Can you imagine if it turned out to be a horrible date? That would be a disaster”.

 

“I really don’t think making me  _ more  _ nervous is helping” he muttered.

 

“Scorpius likes Albus” Lily ignored him. “I don’t think that’s really helpful though”.

 

“Ok, Al. What does he like to  _ do  _ there has to be something” James continued.

 

Albus shrugged.

 

“Do you know  _ anything  _ about this boy?” Lily asked him.

 

Albus thought about that for a moment. He knew Scorpius, he did. He knew that Scorpius’ mum taught him to play piano and that he was great at it. He knew that his mum was sick and it was a constant strain on him, and his family. He knew the way his eyes glazed over, just slightly whenever he talked about her, his eyebrows knitting together as if he was hoping that the cancer would just go away if he thought hard enough about it. He knew that Scorpius would see real things in the stars before imaginary things. As if his brain was a lot more analytical than Albus’. He would see a ferris wheel before he saw a dragon. It made for a lot of joking debates between the two of them. He knew that Scorpius fidgeted when he was nervous, especially when he was nervous. But all those things seemed irrelevant as his siblings stayed with their eyes locked on him. There seemed to be more that he  _ didn’t  _ know about Scorpius.

 

He didn’t know Scorpius’ favourite colour. His favourite animal. His favourite food. They’d never really done all that small talk stuff that you were supposed to do with a person you’ve never met before. Maybe they should have. Maybe Albus should bring it up because James and Lily were still looking at him and he had no idea what to say to them because he couldn’t answer their question. 

 

“I don’t know” he said finally.

 

“Well that’s helpful” James sighed.

 

“I’m sure you know a lot about him” Lily reassured. “Just a lot of little things. It’s more like you to pick those up”.

 

“Thanks Lily”.

 

***

 

“You will not believe what I’ve been through today” Albus said, sitting down next to Scorpius on the grass. Scorpius leaned into him a little automatically, it made him feel a lot better about everything, really. 

 

“What happened?” he asked, turning to look at him. 

 

“My siblings tried to help me plan a date and just bombarded me with teasing instead. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, they’ll take any opportunity to do that”.

 

Scorpius smirked at him. “They tried to help you plan a date?”.

 

Albus nodded, grateful that Scorpius wouldn’t be able to see him blushing in the darkness. “Apparently I don’t know enough about you to plan one. They were getting incredibly frustrated”.

 

“Albus, you could take me to watch the worst movie in the history mankind and it would still be the best date I’ve ever been on” Scorpius laughed.

 

“How many dates have you been on?” Albus asked. He was curious of course.

 

“That’s part of the joke, I guess” Scorpius smiled. “I’ve been on a total of zero dates”.

 

“ _ You’ve  _ never been on a date before?”. Albus had a lot of trouble believing that. Had Scorpius seen himself? Had anyone else seen him? Scorpius was the most incredible person that Albus had ever met. The fact that no one would have asked him out before was almost laughable. Scorpius was a catch. He was so far out of Albus’ league. The fact that he’d yes to the date in the first place was shocking. 

 

“Why is that so hard to believe? Have you ever been on a date before?”.

 

Albus shook his head. “You’ve gotta be joking” he said. “No one would ever ask me on a date”.

 

“I would have” Scorpius shrugged. “If you hadn’t have asked me first, I guess”.

 

Albus looked at him for a moment. He didn’t know what to say to that. Scorpius was smiling at him and he felt like he was melting. Was that supposed to happen? It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Eventually Scorpius flopped down the grass behind him and looked up at the sky. Albus kept looking at him anyway. “What’s your favourite colour?” he asked.

 

“Green. Emerald green. Like your eyes” he answered. He didn’t say  _ because  _ of your eyes. Even if that’s what he meant. “Haven’t I told you this before?”.

 

“You mentioned that you liked green. Not that it was your favourite colour” Albus shrugged.

 

“What’s yours?”.

 

“Black”.

 

“Blacks a shade, not a colour” Scorpius smirked, his eyes flicking to Albus for a moment. 

 

Albus looked down at him, a thought occurring to him. “Gold” he answered.

 

“Gold? That’s very original”.

 

“What were you expecting?”.

 

“I’m not exactly sure. Come here” he patted the grass next to him, “you’re too far away”.

 

Albus laughed and lay down next to Scorpius, letting him take his hand. This felt right, he decided. This felt like happiness. 

 

“Purple” Scorpius said suddenly.

 

“Purple?” Albus asked.

 

“I don’t know. You seem like someone who would look good in purple” he shrugged.

 

“I don’t think there’s a single colour that wouldn’t look good on you” Albus replied. He meant it.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “There’s got to be one” he said.

 

“I can’t think of any. Why purple?”.

 

“Why not?”.

 

Albus couldn’t argue with that. “Good point”.

 

“You’re breathtaking, you know” Scorpius muttered. 

 

“What?”.

 

“You gave me a compliment so now I’m giving you one” he smirked.

 

Albus didn’t get many compliments. Not in this form. The compliments he received were from his family and never involved his looks in any sort of way, for obvious reasons. “Careful, you gay is showing” he returned his smirk.

  
“That’s my bi actually but thanks for noticing”.

 

The two of them burst into a fit of laughter. Not seeming to stop for a few good minutes at least. Albus felt inexplicably happy in a way that he’d never experienced before. He wondered why Scorpius had that effect on him. 

 

“So what should do we for our date?” Scorpius asked after they’d calmed down. “That seems to be the focus of your thoughts tonight”.

 

“ _ You’re  _ the focus of my thoughts tonight” Albus muttered, not looking at Scorpius. And every night since they’d met.

 

“You’re sweet” he smiled. “We could see a movie?”.

 

“Bit cliche don’t you think?”.

 

“Maybe so but I haven’t seen a movie in ages. There’s got to be a new Disney one out by now” he said.

 

“A Disney one?” Albus smirked.

 

“I’m sorry Albus, but if you haven’t sung ‘A Part of Your World’ at the top of your lungs then you haven’t lived” he replied easily. 

 

“Disney movie it is then” he smiled.

 

“I should check the times” Scorpius pulled his phone out of pocket absently with his free hand. “When do you want to do this?” he asked, unlocking it.

 

“Whenever you want to, I guess” he shrugged.

 

“Well, what are you doing this Saturday?”.

 

“You apparently”. Albus’ eyes widened in horror as he realised what he said. “I mean” he stumbled, “this date. With you. The date with you. On Saturday”.

 

Scorpius didn’t say anything but he was smirking at his phone, opening the app for the cinema that he hadn’t used in months. Even if Albus happened to be adorable all the time, he was especially adorable when he was flustered.

 

“I’m sorry” Albus muttered. “That’s not the direction I wanted that to go in”.

 

Scorpius squeezed his hand gently. “Don’t worry about it” he reassured. “Is 12:30 ok?” he asked. “Everything else is 3D and that’s such a waste of money”.

 

“Wait, are you buying them now?”.

 

“Yeah? You don’t want me to?” Scorpius looked over at him.

 

“I was going to pay” he shrugged.

 

“I buy the tickets, you get the popcorn?” he offered.

 

“Ok deal”.

 

Scorpius let go of his hand somewhat reluctantly. He needed both hands to type, he was horrible at typing with one hand. He usually ended up dropping his phone one way or another when he attempted to. 

 

“Are we really doing this?” Albus asked.

 

“Doing what?”.

 

“You know,  _ this _ ” he nudged him, gently. “Us”.

 

“Do you want to?” Scorpius looked up at him, his fingers pausing over his keyboard.

 

“Very much so” Albus confirmed.

 

“Then we’re doing this” he smiled, turning back to his phone. 

 

Albus felt a little giddy. That was the easiest way that he could put it. He felt sort of light headed and there was something happening in his stomach. It was like there was a bunch of tiny creatures shifting around in there. Butterflies! He realised. That was the saying. He had butterflies in his stomach. He wished he didn’t feel as nervous as he did, because if he was this nervous now he didn’t even want to think about how nervous he would be on Saturday. James was going to mock him for days. It would be the joy of his month, getting to do that. 

 

“There” Scorpius smiled, sliding his phone back into his pocket and taking Albus’ hand again. “Tickets are bought”.

 

“Are you sure this what you want?” Albus asked before he could stop himself. His nerves were getting the best of him again. This always happened. He could never allow himself to just  _ be  _ happy. His nerves always reminded of all the bad things.

 

“Absolutely” Scorpius replied. “Are you ok?” he added, squeezing his hand.

 

“Just nervous” Albus shrugged.

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m sort of nervous too” he smiled.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Really”.

 

Albus shifted, rolled onto his side so he was facing Scorpius. His free hand grabbed onto Scorpius’ coat for a moment, as if he was going to pull him closer but then he just started fidgeting with the buttons in the same way that he’d seen Scorpius do a thousand times. “If I fuck this all up at you hate me after this I’m sorry for that” he said.

 

Scorpius took Albus’ other hand in his, pulling it away from his coat and just holding it. “I could never hate you, Al” he said, seriously.

  
Albus couldn’t breathe. That much he knew. There was a thought swirling around in his head that he was trying to suppress. “I could never hate you either” he replied.  _ Quite the opposite actually _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all get the same warm, giddy feeling that I do when I write/proofread this fic. It's quite a lovely feeling. Also, Disney nerd Scorpius is something that I've wanted to write but not something that would fit in something set in the canon HP universe. At least, I didn't figure out how to, so there's that.  
> (Side note: Scorpius is bi in this. Scorpius is always bi in anything that I write ever. I don't have a reason, that's just how I see him.)  
> I've been getting nice comments on this and I never know how to reply to them so just imagine me smiling and wiping tears from my eyes. Thank you to every single person that leaves one, comment or kudos. I'll see you all soon :)


	9. Stars Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not quite Monday yet here for a few hours but I really wanted to post this chapter. I am so so incredibly excited to share it with you all. It's 900% Potter family banter and Scorbus fluff. I hope you all like it <3  
> Chapter title song: Stars Collide by Josh Woodward.

“Good morning Potters! It’s Saturday and do you know what that means!? It’s the greatest day of Al’s life! It’s the greatest day of my life! It’s the greatest day of  _ all our lives!!!”. _

 

“James, I am going to personally murder you!” Albus called. He was sitting at the kitchen table with Lily, who was smirking into her cereal. James had just woken up and was hollering the same phrase a few times over as he made his way into the kitchen. Albus knew it was just to get under his skin. It was working. 

 

“Mum! James and Albus are fighting!” Lily yelled. 

 

Ginny appeared in the doorway, her eyes flicking between her three children. She looked over at her husband. Harry was making breakfast for everyone. He just simply rolled his eyes at her. “James, stop teasing your brother” she said. 

 

“But it’s fun!”.

 

“It’s rude. We’re not rude in this house” she reminded.

 

James nodded moodily, slumping into one of the chairs at the table and accepting the plate of pancakes from his father. 

 

“Thanks, dad” Albus muttered, taking his own plate. He started picking at the pancakes absently. He wasn’t really all that hungry. The butterflies must be taking up all the room in his stomach. 

 

“Nervous, sport?” James asked him.

 

“Don’t call me sport” he replied.

 

“Oh come  _ on _ , Al, just because you couldn’t get on the football team doesn’t mean the sport isn’t in you”.

 

“James” Harry warned.

 

James crossed his arms. “No one’s any fun today” he declared.

 

“You just don’t know to have fun” Lily said.

  
“I do too know how to have fun!”.

  
“Then prove it! Without teasing Albus”.

 

“Lily. James. Enough” Ginny popped back into the room. She crossed the kitchen quickly to kiss her husband before heading towards the door again. “If you don’t stop fighting I won’t let you two go to that concert you want to” she said.

  
“You wouldn’t!” James protested.

  
“Mum, no!” Lily gasped. 

 

“I would and I will, now be nice” she said, kissing them both on the top of the head on her way through. “Have fun today, Albus” she said, ruffling his hair gently and kissing the top of his head as well.

 

“Thanks mum” Albus smiled up at her. 

 

“I’ll say hi to Luna from all you” she smiled, looking around at the three of them before heading out of the room and towards the front door. 

 

“Hopefully by the end of the day mum won’t be the only one that’s kissed Albus” James smirked.

 

“James!” Ginny yelled back into the house. 

 

“Sorry mum!”.

 

Harry was shaking his head slowly as he took a seat at the table as well, his own plate in his hands. “You three are impossible” he said.

 

“Nothing’s impossible, dad” Lily beamed at him. 

 

Harry nudged Albus gently. “Everything ok?” he asked.

 

“Just nervous” he shrugged. 

 

“That’s normal” he reassured.

 

“I just hope I don’t fuck this up”.

 

“You won’t” he reassured, not even bothering to chastise him for his language.

 

“I really like him” Albus muttered.

 

“Albus has a crush! Albus has a crush” Lily sang.

 

“I hate you” he looked up at her.

 

“Lily, remember what your mother said”.

 

“But dad that’s what mum said and you’re not mum” she reminded.

 

“Maybe so but your mum and I are a team. We stand by the same rules” he replied.

 

She huffed and starting picking at James’ pancakes. He shoved her hand away. 

 

“Get your own!”.

 

Harry rolled his eyes, halving what was on his plate and giving them to Lily. He always made extra for this reason. Lily would insist she didn’t want any even though she always did. 

 

“Thanks dad!”.

 

“Hey Albus, what are you going to wear?” James asked. 

 

Albus paused thinking over the question. He had absolutely no idea how to answer it. “I don’t know” he muttered, stabbing at his pancakes a little more forcefully than he should have. 

 

“ _ Of course  _ you don’t” James smirked. 

 

Albus shook his head, ignoring his brother’s teasing smile and quickly texted Rose. ‘ _ Rose, what the fuck do I wear today? _ ’ he sent. 

 

Harry distracted James by starting a conversation about his classes. Albus just zoned out, not really wanting to hear anymore conversation. He should have put a lot more thought into this. This was important. He was so grateful that Rose was always crazy fast at texting back. 

 

‘ _ Green! S likes u in green!’ _ .

 

‘ _ I don’t own anything green’ _ he replied easily. His pancakes were disappearing and when he stabbed the last piece and shoved it in his mouth he looked up at his father. Harry nodded and he stood and moved off to his room. He closed his bedroom door behind him and leaned against it, running his hand through his hair and pulling at the ends for a moment. He was hopeless, he knew that much. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he scrambled for it quickly, dropping onto his bed. The text wasn’t from Rose, it was Scorpius. 

 

‘ _ I’m nervous. Is that weird? Is it weird to be nervous? Are you nervous? _ ’.

 

Albus smiled faintly. It would have taken Scorpius a good few minutes to send that to him. He would have typed a thousand different things only to go back over it and keep changing it again and again. He would have fidgeted an awful lot before he convinced himself to just press send and be done with it. ‘ _ I’m horrified. What if you don’t like me? _ ’ he replied.

 

Buzz.

 

‘ _ It’s impossible for me not to like you’ _ .

 

Buzz.

 

‘ _ Wear a white t-shirt and that jacket u bought with James. Just trust me _ ’.

 

***

 

Scorpius was full of nervous energy. He couldn’t keep still no matter how hard he tried, he just kept fidgeting. He pulled at his sleeves and his shirt, he pulled out his phone every few minutes just to unlock it and then shove it back into his pocket again. Albus wasn’t late, Scorpius just arrived way too early and now he had to deal with that. He could feel eyes on him every now and then. He was sure some of the people that worked here were commenting on how nervous he was. They probably knew why, to an extent. He felt like he was a thirteen year old kid in a movie going on his first date. Well, the first date part was right. 

 

When Albus arrived he was wearing a white t-shirt and a leather jacket and Scorpius  _ died _ . Whatever he was expecting, somehow it wasn’t that. Albus’ hair was as messy as ever and he looked so incredibly good. Scorpius wanted to grab him and kiss him right there. But that was insanely irrational. When Albus’ eyes locked onto him and he started making his way over Scorpius found himself going incredibly still. He couldn’t even fidget. He was just awestruck. 

 

“Uh, hi” Albus said, a crooked smile on his face as he looked at him. Scorpius’ eyes were wide and he was looking at him like he’d never seen him before. That just made him more nervous.

 

“I’m gay” Scorpius muttered. “I am so so incredibly gay”.

 

“I thought you were bi” he teased.

 

“I am, but I’m just really really gay in this moment”. Albus was looking at him like he was incredibly amused by that and Scorpius could die happy right here. He could die with Albus looking at him like that, still smiling at him. He needed to clarify what he meant but his brain wasn’t listening. It was too distracted. “You are so fucking beautiful” he managed.

 

Albus looked away, a blush rising in his cheeks. “Thanks” he muttered.

 

“I didn’t know you were the leather jacket type” Scorpius said.  _ I’m so glad you are _ .

 

Albus looked up at him again. “I went to a concert with my brother a few months ago. He told me he wouldn’t come with me unless I looked punk enough so he helped me buy this jacket. We split it”.

 

“What concert?”.

 

“It was Fall Out Boy” he laughed. “James loves them”.

 

“Can’t blame him”.

 

Albus’ eyes flicked around the room for a moment. “Did you want to go and grab the food?” he asked. He quickly slipped his phone out of his pocket to check the time. “Movie’s starting soon”.

 

Right. Movie. Food. Date. They weren’t here just so Scorpius could gaze at him. “Sure” he shrugged. 

 

Albus reached for his hand for a moment but then looked around the room and pulled away. Scorpius knew it was because there were other people around. He understood. 

 

“Tell me more about your family” Scorpius said as they stood in line.

 

“My family?”.

 

“Yeah”.

 

“Why?” Albus looked up at him.

 

“You always sound so happy when you talk about them” Scorpius shrugged. He just liked hearing Albus talk really. He could listen to him talk about how to make a paper bag and he’d still find it interesting. 

 

“Um” Albus muttered, “What do you want to know?”.

 

“Anything” Scorpius smiled. “How old is your brother again?”.

 

“James?” he asked.  “Oh he’s nineteen. He’s a first year at uni so I don’t really see him all the time but he still lives with us and he still loves teasing me as much as ever. Haven’t I already told you this? I should probably start keeping track of what I tell you.I don’t really know what to say about him. He has terrible luck with dating. Absolutely horrible. I hope Lily has better luck when she starts dating. Lily is my sister. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned her by name or not. Oh, I’m rambling. I’m rambling. I’ll stop”.

 

Scorpius just smiled at him. “No, it’s great. You can talk as much as you like”.

 

“I’ll stop. What food did you want? Just popcorn?” Albus fished into his pocket for his wallet, pulling it out quickly and finding his debit card. Scorpius found himself distracted by Albus’ hands of all things. He hadn’t seen Albus much. Not in proper lighting, at least. Honestly he was having quite a lot of trouble breathing. 

 

“Popcorn is good” he muttered.

 

“I’ll get some water too. It’s habit” he shrugged. 

 

“Probably a good idea”. 

 

Scorpius ignored the way the lady that served them smirked at them both while Albus was shoving his card back into his wallet. He just took the popcorn and the two bottles of water and started walking towards the cinema, handing one to Albus when his hands were free. 

 

Albus looked up at him for a moment, a question seeming to lie within the air. “Are you ok?” he asked. “I mean, is this ok?”.

 

“This is great. Really great. You’re great”.

 

He laughed at that. “You just seem …”.

 

“Nervous? I’m incredibly nervous” Scorpius muttered.

 

“Why?”.

 

Scorpius looked down at him for a moment. Albus seemed genuinely confused by that. He wondered why. “I just don’t know how to impress you” he admitted.

 

“Impress me?” Albus smirked. “What do you mean by that?”.

  
“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do on a date?” Scorpius asked. He checked their tickets absently, making sure they were about to walk into the right cinema and quickly checking their seat numbers. “You’re supposed to impress them so that you get to go on more dates”.

 

“I don’t think it would take much to get me to go on another date with you” Albus smiled, following Scorpius as he started up the steps. “And I don’t think you need to impress anyone but then again I have no idea what I’m doing so maybe don’t take my advice on that”.

 

“I think you’re doing pretty great so far” Scorpius laughed. “Oh found them” he muttered, taking his seat and handing Albus his ticket as he sat next to him. “I’m not sure if you’re one of those people that keep them” he shrugged.

 

“Maybe I’ll start” Albus shrugged. “And you don’t have to worry about impressing me, Scorpius. You do that every day”.

 

“You don’t mean that”.

 

“Sorry, was it too cheesy?” Albus looked up at him.

 

“Maybe you do mean that” Scorpius muttered. He wasn’t sure why Albus seemed to genuinely like him, but he really hoped that he didn’t stop. 

 

“Of course I mean it. I have no reason to lie to you”.

 

Scorpius just smiled at that. He didn’t quite know what to say so he didn’t say anything. Albus was having trouble opening his water bottle and he was finding it incredibly endearing. “Need help with that?” he asked. 

 

“The seals not even broken. This water bottle is faulty” Albus muttered, gritting his teeth.  

 

“Careful, you’ll skin your hand” Scorpius said, holding his hand out for the bottle. 

 

He sighed and handed it over. “If you get it on the first try, I swear -” he broke off and groaned as Scorpius opened the bottle without much effort. “How?”.

 

“You have to dig your nails into the seal with these ones. And turn really hard” he shrugged, handing the bottle back. He shook his hand absently. It hadn’t hurt but his hand was a little tingly. 

 

“You’re amazing” Albus muttered, staring down at the bottle in awe.

 

Scorpius laughed. It wasn’t really a big deal, but Albus was adorable. He always was. The two of them startled as a few more people wandered into the cinema. A mother was dragging two small, incredibly excited children. 

 

“I’m really not a fan of children” Albus said.

 

“Why?” Scorpius looked back at him.

 

Albus shrugged. He adjusted the popcorn so it was sitting between the two of them. Scorpius wasn’t sure if he liked that at all. “They’re usually loud and ask a lot of questions during the movie. And if they’re behind you they’ll always find a way to kick your seat with their tiny little legs” he explained.

 

“Well it’s a good thing we’re all the way back here, and they’re all the way down there” he smiled.

 

Albus smiled up at him. “Yeah I quite like this arrangement” he agreed. 

 

A silence fell between them for a few moments. Albus managed to shove his ticket into his wallet. Scorpius tried not to watch his hands as he did so. He opened his own water bottle and tried not to eat too much of the popcorn. They needed to have some left for during the actual movie. The cinema filled up, more children rushing their way in. Fortunately they all seemed to sit much further down the front than the two of them were. Scorpius decided that the back row had been a good idea. The advertisements started to roll. Albus quickly put his phone on silent. Scorpius did the same. 

 

The sound was loud enough to drown out the majority of the conversation in the room. Which meant that Scorpius had a reason to lean closer to Albus in order to be heard. He silently thanked the cinema gods for that.

  
“I hope you don’t think I’ve forgotten” he said.

 

“Forgotten what?” Albus asked, picking absently at the popcorn between them. He seemed to be deciding whether to move it or not. 

 

“The super moon. It’s tonight”.

 

“Oh” Albus laughed. “It is, isn’t it?”.

 

“If you want to we can head up to the cliff tonight and watch it” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Really. I factored it into the date plan don’t worry” he smirked.

 

“The date plan? What else have you got planned?”.

 

“It makes me sound a lot more organised than I am” he muttered. 

 

“So nothing then?”.

 

“I have no idea what I’m doing” Scorpius reminded.

 

“I’m glad we’re on the same page then” Albus smiled. “You know what’s fun?” he asked.

 

“A date with you?”.

 

“No.Well, I mean, I hope yes but that’s what I’m referring to”. He was blushing now, he could feel the heat in his cheeks. Albus wondered if the darkness of the cinema would do him any favours in hiding that at all.

 

“What were you referring to then?”.

 

“It’s a Disney movie so we’re going to get all the kids trailers. They’ll verge from absolutely atrocious to somewhat decent” he laughed. 

 

“I like kids movies. They’re like an escape from the the darkness in the world” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“Am I about to unlock your tragic backstory?” Albus smirked, mimicking Scorpius’ words from a few days before. 

 

Scorpius looked over at him. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to truly answer that. He felt that there was a lot of things in his past that he wanted to keep from Albus. Though he didn’t want to hide from him. 

 

“It’s ok” Albus reassured. “I can be patient”.

 

“I don’t want you to think I’m hiding from you” he muttered.

 

“I know you’re not” he nudged him gently. “Don’t worry. I won’t pry”.

 

“You’re the only person I’ve even considered spilling all my secrets to” Scorpius admitted.

 

“I guess that’s supposed to make me feel special” Albus smirked.

 

“Doesn’t it?”.

 

Albus looked at him for a moment. Even in the darkness, Scorpius could tell that his eyes were soft. His smirk had given way to an easy smile. “Of course it does” he said, nudging him a little for emphasis.  

 

Scorpius returned his smile and a comfortable silence fell over the two of them again. They made a few scattered comments about the trailers that played, laughing at now ridiculous most of them were. When the Disney castle came into view at the start of the film Scorpius felt a jolt go through his entire body. He’d missed this. He hadn’t realised it until now. Disney would always have a special place in his heart. He looked over at Albus and realised that he must have felt the same. Scorpius placed his hand palm up between them. He nudged Albus gently to get his attention. Albus looked down at his hand for a moment, he wiggled his fingers for emphasis.

 

“Really?” Albus asked, with a hopeful tone in his voice.

 

“We are on a date, aren’t we?” Scorpius reminded 

  
Albus gave a delighted laughed, linking his fingers with Scorpius’ slowly. “Yeah, we are” he beamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to say a few things about this:  
> 1\. "I'm so gay" is a real thing that we same-gender attracted people (including us bi people) say. I can't speak for all of us but me and some of my friends say those sorts of things, quite frequently. Especially when we're joking around. I wanted to throw that in here somewhere.   
> 2\. The water bottle thing is an actual real life thing that happened to me. I tried to open it, two of my friends also tried to open it and it didn't work. Three days later, my girlfriend takes a split second to open it. Absolutely incredible.   
> 3\. Their date is split over two chapters so don't worry, there's more to this.  
> I'll see you all soon!!!


	10. A Sky Full Of Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello. It felt cruel to leave you all halfway through a date so I thought I would post this a little early. This chapter is purely just tooth-rotting fluff. I'm send an apology to everyone's dentists.   
> Chapter Title Song: A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. (shoutout to my girlfriend because this is our song)

Albus had seen Scorpius happy before. At least, he thought he had. The Scorpius he was currently seeing was absolutely beyond happy. He was elated. Albus made a mental note to keep track of all the release dates of future Disney movies because he would do anything to see Scorpius  _ this  _ happy again. 

 

“Wasn’t it amazing, Albus? The animation! It’s so advanced now. The technology they use! It must have taken them ages to work on this. Years! Well, obviously years but I just … it’s incredible” Scorpius was beaming at him. He’d pulled Albus off the side gently and had his hands resting on his shoulders, practically bouncing up and down with his excitement. 

 

Albus didn’t know much about animation but he’d learn if it made Scorpius smile like that. He’d learn how to animate an entire saga if it meant that Scorpius would never let him go. “It was a pretty good storyline too” he commented.

 

“Pretty good! Albus, it was even better than that!”.

 

“Wonderful then” he laughed. “It was wonderful. How’s that?”.

 

“Wonderful is a much better word”.

 

Albus smiled up at him. He wasn’t quite sure what to say, and he sort of wish that he did. His brain was thinking about a million different things but none of them were  _ words  _ that he could actually  _ use _ . 

 

“Malfoy!”.

 

Within the space of about half a second Albus saw Scorpius flow through a multitude of emotions. There was surprise, panic, even anger for a moment and then his eyes went cold, his hands dropping quickly from Albus’ shoulders and his body going entirely stiff. Albus looked up at the boy that had spoken. He was smirking and seemed to be someone that was always looking for trouble. Albus immediately decided that he didn’t like him. 

 

“Goyle” Scorpius greeted, turning to face him. His voice sounded like it had been dipped in ice and Albus could tell that his eyes had turned hard as steel. He’d never seen Scorpius like this. It wasn’t something that he was awfully fond of. He imagined that this would have been the Malfoy that his father had known. The resemblance between Scorpius and Draco was paramount.

 

Goyle’s eyes flicked between the two of them. They turned a devastatingly amount of what Albus would call  _ playful _ . There were two other boys behind him, mimicking his expression. One of them leaned over and whispered something to the other. They both laughed. Albus wanted to disappear. Why could he never disappear when he needed to? He was usually so invisible. 

 

“Are you on a date, Malfoy?” Goyle asked.

 

Albus could feel trepidation falling off Scorpius in waves. He wanted nothing more than to just pull him away from whatever this was but he knew that touching Scorpius in any way wouldn’t help this at all right now. He remembered something that Rose had said to him a few months ago, after being confronted by similar people ( _ “People will use anything against you these days. Homophobia isn’t dead, Albus, as much as I would like it to be”) _ . 

 

“With a  _ Potter _ ?” he pressed, spitting Albus’ name like it was somehow disgusting. 

 

Albus clenched his fists, anger peaking within him. He knew he couldn’t start a fight, he wouldn’t stand a chance against any of them, but he hated when people shit talked about his family like that. He dug his nails into his palms, reminding himself to stay grounded. Sometimes his anger could be like a ticking time bomb. He didn’t want to explode. Not here at least, in front of Scorpius.

 

“So what if I am?” Scorpius challenged. He was staring hard at Goyle, as if daring him to say something. His own fists were clenched and he looked very akin to something dangerous. Albus felt something surge through him. He realised quickly that it was pride. 

 

“I didn’t think that even  _ you _ would stoop that low, Malfoy” Goyle replied. His two friends laughed and the three of them disappeared in the direction of the doors. 

 

Albus saw Scorpius visibly relax. Though it wasn’t relaxing as much as slumping with relief that nothing had truly happened. He turned to face him, his smile returning. “Where were we?” he asked.

 

“You were in a fit of joy about the quality of the animation” Albus reminded, unclenching his fists absently.

 

“Oh right” he muttered. Then Scorpius looked around them and took a step closer to Albus. “I don’t want you to think I’m ashamed of you” he said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. “I’m really not. And I don’t care if someone sees me with you”.

 

“Scorpius, it’s ok. Really” Albus reassured. 

 

He shook his head slowly, suddenly looking quite pained. “They make me life hell” he explained. “I don’t want that to happen to you too”.

 

“It won’t” Albus smiled. “And if it does, I can take it. I’m stronger than you think I am”.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “I know you’re strong”.

 

“I’m not ashamed of you either. I hope you know that”.

 

Scorpius smiled at that and took another step closer to him so they were right in front of each other. “Thank you” he said.

 

“There’s a book store down the road. It has a lot of second hand stuff and it’s absolutely massive. I think you’ll like it” Albus muttered.

 

Scorpius’ eyes lit up at that. “Really?” he asked.

 

“Really. I’ll take you there. We have lots of time”.

 

“I could spend the rest of my life in a bookshop, Al. You have no idea”.

 

_ And I’d stay there with you _ , he thought. Albus took Scorpius’ hand, slowly twisting their fingers together and smiling up at him. “Ready?”.

 

“Born ready” Scorpius beamed.

 

***

 

The bookshop had existed as long as Albus could remember. It was older than his parents, and even his grandma could remember it existing when she was younger. Albus thought that maybe it had been passed down through the family that owned it. Either way it was some kind of ancient gem that withstood the hands of time. It was the biggest shop on the street and sometimes he wondered how they managed to get away with that. Everywhere seemed to be splitting into smaller shops, doubling the amount in number. He was grateful that this one stayed the way it was. Scorpius paused to gaze in the window for a few minutes before they continued to the doors. The words “Books and Video” were still emblazoned on the side in blue paint, showing the age of the place. 

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here before” Scorpius said as they approached the doors. 

 

“Really? It’s been here forever” Albus laughed.

 

He shrugged. “You think I would have noticed”.

 

The bookshop was two stories. There were endless shelves filled with as many books as they could possibly hold. Then there were piles in front of the shelves. There were books absolutely everywhere. It was haphazard in the best way possible. Rose always ended up dragging him here at some point because she could often manage to find out of print books that didn’t exist anywhere else. The store seemed to adopt as many books as it possibly could so that wasn’t in any way surprising. He thought that it would always remain one of Rose’s favourite places for that reason. 

 

“Hi, Albus”.

 

“Hi Mr. Gould” Albus turned, smiling at the old man behind the counter. 

 

“No Rose today?” he asked.

 

“Not today. This is Scorpius” he added after glancing at the boy next to him. “Scorpius, this is Mr. Gould. The owner” Albus introduced.

 

“Pleasure to meet you”.

 

“This place is amazing!” Scorpius beamed, he quickly turned again to face the books. Albus felt a shy tug on his hand. 

 

“Go and have fun” Mr. Gould smiled in his calm way. He gave Albus a subtle wink after noticing their joined hands. 

 

Albus shrugged, returning his smile. Scorpius tugged at his hand again. “Ok, I’m coming” he laughed. 

 

Albus let Scorpius lead him towards the numerous amount of shelves. Eventually he let go of his hand and let Scorpius just wander. He picked up quite a few of the books, reading the blurbs and looking at them with some sort of fondness and that Albus wasn’t sure of the origin of. He pulled out his phone, opening snapchat quickly and taking a photo while Scorpius wasn’t looking, he’d been gazing down at one of the books. 

 

_ ‘Sometimes I think he’s more your type’ _ he captioned it and sent it to Rose.

 

She replied with a picture the chemistry essay she was currently working on.  _ ‘We both know why he isn’t my type’ _ it read. 

 

Albus snorted with laughter, prompting Scorpius’ attention. 

 

“Are you taking pictures of me?” he asked.

 

Albus shook his head. “Just snapchatting Rose” he explained. 

 

“Oh. How is she?” Scorpius smiled, placing the book in his hand down and coming to stand next to Albus again. 

 

“She’s good. This is one of her favourite places so I just thought I’d tell her we dropped by” he shrugged. 

 

“I can definitely see her in here” he mused, looking around in awe.

 

“There’s a lot of out of print books around. She loves those” Albus explained. “They’re special to her”.

 

“I absolutely agree” he smiled. “We have a really nice library at home. It’s not as big as this place, obviously but it’s pretty big”.

 

“ _ Of course  _ you have a library” he smirked.

 

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “Shush” he laughed. 

 

“Maybe I could come over sometime. You could give me a tour” he teased.

 

“Yeah, maybe”.

 

The two of them paused, just looking at each other for a moment. Albus realised that he was having a very particular thought. He eyes drifted to Scorpius’ lips absently and then back up to his eyes. He could do it, theoretically. He could kiss Scorpius. There was absolutely no one around them. They were surrounded by books. Scorpius loved books. It would be perfect. He could do it. There was nothing truly stopping him. Scorpius stepped away, smiling and turned back to the books. Albus closed his eyes for a moment.  _ Idiot _ , he thought,  _ you’re an idiot. This is only your first date.  _

 

“I don’t think my parents would mind having you over. I think my mum likes you a lot. She keeps asking me how you are” Scorpius said.

 

Albus wondered if he knew what he’d been thinking. He wondered if he wanted him to know. “Sounds like she’s insinuating something” he joked.

 

Scorpius laughed. “No, I think she’s just really happy I have friends now. She asks about Rose sometimes too”.

 

“That’s sweet of her. Rose asks me a lot about you too”.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Really. It’s only mildly annoying” Albus laughed. 

 

“I’m sure she means well” Scorpius shrugged. They were slowly moving further and further to the back of the store. There were a lot more piles back here. Scorpius spotted a couple of the out of print books that he knew Rose came looking for. He picked one up absently, something that his father would appreciate. The cover was green and slightly worn but it was still lovely. 

 

“To be fair, I do talk about you a lot” Albus muttered. His eyes widened when he realised what he’d said. Scorpius was smirking down at the book in his hands and that meant that he’d definitely heard him.

 

“Do you now?” he teased, looking up at him again.

 

Albus sighed. “Yeah” he muttered, avoiding Scorpius’ eyes carefully. 

 

“Hey” Scorpius smiled, grabbed Albus’ hand again. “I talk about you an awful lot too” he admitted.

 

“Why?”.

 

Scorpius laughed and looked down at their hands. “I thought that maybe that would have been a bit obvious” he muttered.

 

“Oh” Albus smiled at him, squeezing his hand gently. 

 

***

 

Hand holding was good. Albus had decided that throughout the day. Hand holding was very, very good and as Albus made his way up the cliff while still holding Scorpius’ hand he felt inexplicably happy. Scorpius had picked up about a dozen books while they were in the bookshop and Albus had to coax him into maybe not buying that many since it was a lot for the two of them to carry. He managed to convince him when he told him that they would go back as many times as Scorpius liked, buying something each time. That seemed to appease him. 

 

The sun was slowly starting to edge towards setting as the two of them reached the top of the cliff. Albus didn’t often see it by daylight. There was a certain charm to it even then. Or maybe that was just because of the boy standing next to him. He couldn’t be sure. Watching the sunset was supposed to be something romantic. He’d heard James mention that a few times. It was somehow always involved in the romantic comedies that Rose and Lily seemed to devour on a monthly basis (He’d had to sit through his fair share. They weren’t the best films that he’d ever seen but he could see the appeal of them). Maybe the fact that he was on a  _ date  _ was helping to remind him of all the things that were supposed to be romantic. Maybe he should have been taking notes. These might have been things that he’d need at some point. If he went on more dates that was. He hoped there would be more dates. 

 

Scorpius was already steadily making his way through one of the books that he’d bought. It was something historical that Albus probably wouldn’t be able to focus on, but history seemed to be one of Scorpius’ favourite subjects so he wasn’t really surprised. The book looked to be something that his mum would call a “coffee table book” but Scorpius seemed to paying as avid attention as if it was the novel of the century. 

 

“You’re going to miss the sunset if you keep reading like that, you know” Albus smirked. 

 

Scorpius looked up at him like he’d been pulled from a dream. Albus was wondering if he was in one himself. “I thought you would want the sunset to hurry along. So you can see you stars” he shot back.

 

“Sunsets are one of the most beautiful occurrences in the world. Didn’t you know that?”.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. He closed his book, placing it carefully by his side and shifted closer to Albus. “Happy?” he asked, a playful smile on his lips.

 

“Very” Albus beamed. “You?”.

 

“I’m shocked that you would make me stop reading to watch the  _ sunset  _ with you but I guess I should have expected that” he teased.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”.

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong” Scorpius smirked, “but I think you might be trying to be romantic”.

 

Albus looked away from him. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “Well, we are on a date” he muttered, embarrassed.

 

“I know. It’s been wonderful”.

 

“Is wonderful the word of the day?” Albus looked up at him again.

 

“Absolutely”.

 

The two boys laughed. Scorpius leaned into Albus a little and took his hand, absently playing with his fingers. Albus watched, fascinated. He wondered what Scorpius was thinking.

 

“So what causes a supermoon?” Scorpius asked, smiling faintly. 

 

Albus watched as the sky turned from blue to pink and orange before his eyes. He always forgot how quickly sunsets happened. “It happens when the moon is at the closest point to Earth” he explained. “That’s why it appears larger”.

 

“You know a lot about space” Scorpius replied.

 

“You know a lot about history” he smirked.

 

“I just really like learning things” he shrugged. “There’s always so much to know in history. There’s so much history all over the world”.

 

“I guess there wouldn’t be a shortage. With all the different cultures and everything” Albus mused.

 

“Exactly!”.

 

The sky was fading from pink-orange to purple and then a much darker blue. The first few stars started to appear above their heads. Albus smiled up at them out of habit. He could name each of them but he didn’t want to show off  _ that  _ much. The great thing about the sky was the more that you looked, the more the stars started to appear. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Scorpius look up at them too. He felt so very content in that moment. 

 

“She’s really outdone herself tonight hasn’t she?” Scorpius smiled, gazing out at the moon in front of them. 

 

“I think I like the idea of the moon being a girl” Albus replied. 

 

“I’m sure she appreciates that” he smirked.

 

Albus rolled his eyes, laughing. “She has outdone herself” he agreed. 

 

“If you had to pick one” Scorpius started, squeezing Albus’ hand and looking up at him, “the moon or the sun?”.

 

Albus looked at the boy in front of him. He already knew his answer. He had a million reasons why he would pick what he would, but Scorpius had just given him one more. “The sun” he answered.

 

“Really? I would pick the moon” Scorpius beamed at him.

  
“Why?” Albus found himself asking. He felt weightless, like he was lost in this moment. 

 

“Even though some people think she’s really dark she has this brightness to her. This strength that not everyone sees” he explained.

 

“The light of the moon is just reflection from the sun, you know” Albus muttered.

 

“Maybe so, but I think she has her own light too”.

 

There was one thing that Albus was incredibly aware of, and it was the fact that he should have asked James how to kiss someone because the thought of kissing Scorpius was very prominent within that moment. He thought about the sun and the moon. Darkness and light pulling at each other, always connected and yet somehow always apart. He thought about Scorpius and how it almost seemed like he was being pulled towards him. Albus wondered if he felt the same. 

 

When Scorpius started leaning towards him Albus felt the air knock out of him entirely. Maybe Scorpius  _ had  _ been thinking the same things that he had. Maybe he  _ was  _ experiencing the same kind of feelings. He felt lightheaded in the best way possible. Scorpius paused, mere inches between them now.

 

“Can I?” he whispered.

 

“Yes” Albus replied.

 

Scorpius smiled and closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Albus’ gently. While not entirely sure what to do with his hands, he gripped onto the front of his coat and pulled him closer. Albus responded by wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling him against him. Eventually one of Scorpius’ hands ended up in Albus’ hair. Albus had no idea what a supernova felt like but he was fairly certain that there was one exploding inside him somewhere. Between that and the fireworks he never wanted the moment to end. When they pulled away from each other they were both significantly out of breath. 

 

“Holy shit” Albus muttered.

 

“Wow” Scorpius breathed. “Was that too much?” he asked, pulling away from Albus.

 

Albus tightened his grip on him, not letting Scorpius move away. “No, it was great. You were great”.

 

“You’re getting possessive” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Sorry” Albus muttered, letting go however reluctantly. 

 

“I didn’t say that I didn’t like it”. There was a certain sparkle in Scorpius’ eyes that made Albus burst out laughing. 

 

“Come here” he muttered, taking Scorpius’ face gently in his hands and kissing him again. He liked this. This was good. This was as good as hand holding. If not better. 

 

***

 

Albus was in a delighted haze as he made his way back towards his house. He ended up walking the extra few blocks to Rose’s house. Her bedroom was on the ground floor and he was incredibly grateful. Albus picked up a pebble and absently threw it at her window to get her attention. Thankfully it was a small enough pebble that it would make a sound but not break anything. Rose threw her window open a few moments later. He eyes narrowed at him as she spotted him.

 

“Dammit, Albus, I thought you might be a pretty girl trying to sway my affections” she said.

 

“He kissed me” Albus beamed up at her.

 

Rose’s eyes widened, the words sinking into her brain rather quickly. It made sense to her now. Albus showing up at her window in a considerable daze. “He kissed you!?” she asked, her voice rising in excitement, but not enough to alarm anyone.

 

“I kissed him back”.

 

“You kissed him back!”.

 

Albus nodded. “And then I kissed him again” he said.

  
“Albus, get your scrawny ass in here and tell me everything!”. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the bookshop they visit is actually based off this bookshop I've been to only a handful of times. It's a wild place, let me tell you. Alas, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.  
> I'll see you all soon <3


	11. Starstruck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while and I'm so very sorry about that. I work in retail and I'm sure you've noticed that it's the holidays season so I've awfully busy which has pulled me away from this fic (thankfully Christmas is over now). But here is the next chapter! Have some Potter family banter. I hope you're all well!

Rose had been absolutely delighted by every small detail that he’d given her. So much so that she’d ended up squealing so much that it had alerted Hermione who’d popped into her room. She’d been alarmed when she noticed that there was someone in Rose’s room with her but visibly relaxed when he realised it was just Albus. She too had been considerably happy by the apparent change in Albus’ love life. He wondered briefly if she’d made some kind of bet with Rose. The two of them were acting quite suspicious. 

 

***

 

Albus didn’t even knock before he entered his brother’s bedroom. He always knocked. There was always a chance that James could be up to something that no one else truly wanted to know about. Albus had learned that knocking was an easy way to avoid walking in on things he didn’t want to see, but he was on such a high that he just barged into James’ room without a second thought. James was curled up on his bed, his laptop sitting in front of him and about a billion different tabs open, most of them academic. 

 

“Evening, Al” James greeted him. There was a smirk forming and Albus knew that James could tell just how happy he was. He was sure that his date had gone a lot better than a number of James’ had in the past.

 

“He kissed me” Albus muttered, his voice a lot quieter than he thought it would be.

 

“Wait? WHAT?” James asked, jumping up as if in sudden alarm but he was beaming. He made his way over to Albus and threw his arms around him. “He kissed you!”.

 

“I know. I’m in … shock”.

 

“LILY GET IN HERE!” James called towards the door.

 

Lily burst in about a minute later. Her hair was all over the place and Albus realised that she must have been getting ready for bed. He wasn’t sure what the time was. “What?” she asked, obviously thinking that something must have been wrong due to James’ urgency. 

 

“Guess who had their first kiss?” James asked. Albus had never seen him smile this wide before.

 

“James, that was a considerable amount of time ago. You know the novelty has worn -” she broke off, her eyes settling on Albus. They grew about three sizes. “Wait. Albus!? REALLY!?” she shriked.

 

“REALLY!” James confirmed.

 

“OH MY GOD!” she yelled, throwing her arms around her brother out of pure excitement. 

 

The door opened again. Harry and Ginny were in the doorway. Their eyes flicked between their three children. 

 

“What’s going on in here?” Harry asked, eyeing them all suspiciously. 

 

“Your son has been snogging a Malfoy!” James called proudly. 

 

Harry’s eyes narrowed with confusion but then he noticed Albus in the room. Lily still had one arm around him and she was delightedly jumping up and down on the spot. “Really?” he asked, breaking out into a smile.

 

“I can’t believe I lived to see this!” Lily yelled. 

 

“Lily, you’re only fifteen” James muttered.

 

“MY OWN BROTHER!” she continued, raising her voice to ignore James. “SNOGGING A MALFOY! MY OWN BROTHER, ALBUS POTTER! SNOGGING!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!”.

 

Ginny sighed and shared a look with her husband. “Lily, bed” she ordered.

 

“But mum! This is a momentous occasion!” she protested.

 

“Lily, listen to your mum” Harry added.

 

She sighed, squeezed Albus’ side and then quickly headed back down the hallway to her bedroom. “I want details in the morning!” she yelled. 

 

“I can’t even think right now so that’s a deal!” Albus called back.

 

“Alright, bed for you two as well. It’s getting late” Ginny turned back to the two boys.

 

“But  _ mum _ -”.

 

“James” she warned. James was old enough now that he didn’t have to be told when to go to bed but he’d been having a horrible time sleeping lately. He was usually up late working assignments, or just stressing about them so she thought she’d take some initiative this time. Even if James was protesting she knew he appreciated it. 

 

“Come on, Al” Harry smiled. “You can tell us all about it in the morning”.

 

***

 

Albus was awoken the next morning to a considerable amount of weight dropping onto his bed. He opened his eyes slowly to see Lily was practically bouncing next to him. Her red hair was falling around her as she looked down at him. There was a sparkle in her eyes that meant she wanted to desperately know something. 

 

“Oh good, you’re awake” she beamed.

 

Albus just groaned in response. He rubbed at his eyes. He didn’t feel like talking or waking up. He was quite enjoying being asleep just a few seconds before. 

 

“You promised you would tell me how your date went in the morning. It’s morning” she continued.

 

“I didn’t promise you anything” he reminded.

 

“But we made a deal”.

 

“You couldn’t have just waited until I woke up on my own?” he looked up at her, blinking a few dozen extra times to try and help himself stay awake.

 

Lily shook her head furiously, her red hair dancing around her. “There’s no fun in waiting” she declared. 

 

“Alright fine” Albus muttered. He rubbed at his eyes again and moved to sit up. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. “Lily, it’s 7 in the morning” he looked over at her.

 

She just beamed at him in response. 

 

“Lily, it’s  _ Sunday _ ”.

 

“So” she shrugged. “You usually get up at this time. What’s the problem?”.

 

“I never get up at this time on a Sunday”.

 

She crossed her arms and stared down at him. “Well if my own  _ brother  _ doesn’t want to talk to me -”.

 

“Don’t be like that” Albus interrupted. “I’ll tell you, but you have to let me wake up first. My brain isn’t working yet”.

 

“When is your brain ever working?”.

 

“Harsh”.

 

Lily smirked at him. “Dad’s making breakfast downstairs” she said.

 

“Already?”.

 

“I may have … also woken him”.

 

“You’re horrid”.

 

“I’m a delight. Thank you very much”.

 

Albus rolled his eyes at her. “I’ll be down in a minute ok”.

 

“Ok!” she beamed, standing up and turning towards the door. “JAMES! HE’S AWAKE!” she yelled before running down the stairs towards the kitchen. 

 

James sauntered passed Albus’ room, smirking to himself. “Morning sunshine” he teased.

 

“I fucking hate the both of you” Albus muttered.

 

“See you at breakfast” James winked before heading down the stairs as well. 

 

Albus groaned, slumping down into his bed and throwing his pillow over his face for a moment. He only resurfaced when he heard his phone vibrate next to him. He quickly grabbed at it, a smile forming as his eyes scanned over the text from Scorpius.

 

_ ‘I’m not quite sure if last night was real or a dream _ ’.

 

_ ‘Bit weird for us to have the same dream, isn’t it _ ’ he sent back. Albus finally found the courage to pull the covers off himself and face the day. He knew that Lily would just come back to hassle him if he didn’t head down for breakfast soon. And he was genuinely hungry. 

 

_ ‘You dreamt about the alien robots too? _ ’. Albus couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

 

_ ‘Always’ _ he sent back, before heading towards the stairs. 

 

***

 

Lily managed to suffer halfway through breakfast before she realised that Albus wasn’t going to say anything unless he was prompted. He’d always been one to keep to himself but she didn’t think that was fair in this situation. She needed details. They’d made a deal. She caught James’ eye across the table, he winked at her and she smirked in return.

 

“Sooooo” James beamed, nudging Albus’ arm gently, “you snogged a Malfoy”.

 

“Yep”.

 

“How was that?” he pressed.

 

“Wonderful” Albus smiled.

 

James sighed, dropping his fork against the table. The sound made Abus startle automatically. “Mum! Albus isn’t giving us any details about his date!” James called. 

 

Albus sighed, picked absently at his food and tried to ignore the way Lily was smirking at him.

 

“Leave your brother alone” Harry interrupted as Ginny appeared in the room.

 

“But dad! Aren’t you curious too?” he demanded.

 

Harry looked over at his wife. She just rolled her eyes at him. “Be patient” he reminded.

 

James sighed dramatically and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “I have places to be but I’m not moving until I get details” he announced.

 

“Trying to guilt trip is below you” Albus muttered, stabbing at his bacon with more force than necessary. 

 

“Below me? Is that supposed to be some kind of cryptic hint?”.

 

Albus rubbed at his eyes absently. He was too tired for this. 

 

Lily nudged him. She turned considerably softer during the exchange between her brothers. “Where’d it happen?” she asked.

  
“Cliff” he answered.

 

“Oh, the Supermoon was last night” she beamed. “That’s really romantic”.

 

“Yeah” he couldn’t help but return her smile.

 

“So he initiated it?”.

 

“Yeah. It was … it was good” he replied.

 

Lily smiled at that. “How was the movie?”.

 

“So he’ll talk to Lily but not to me?” James tried to interrupt, looking between his parents. “How is that fair?”.

 

Albus kicked him under the table, not looking at him. “It was really good. You’d really like it I think. You should take some of your friends to see it” he continued.

 

“I was thinking about it, but with enthusiasm like that who can resist?” she laughed.”Is Scorpius a big Disney nerd?”.

 

“Very big. He went on a massive rant about the quality of the animation”.

 

“Oh, that’s adorable”.

 

“It was”.

 

“Well, I’m glad you had fun” Lily nudged him. 

 

“I’m glad it well. I was really nervous” Albus shrugged.

 

“I’m sure he was too”.

 

“He was, surprisingly”.

 

“Surprisingly?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

 

Albus nodded. “Can you believe this is all happening to  _ me _ ?”.

 

“Al, you deserve happiness. I hope you know that” she said.

 

“It just feels a little unreal” he explained. 

 

***

 

With school winding down again in preparation for the Christmas break there were less and less students appearing for classes. There was still a week left but that didn’t seem to matter. Albus couldn’t really blame them for that, school wasn’t for everyone. As he and Rose made their way towards the school gates after another incredibly long day they were discussing Christmas and how disastrously close it was. 

 

“There’s only three weeks left. Can you believe that?” Rose was saying as they swerved around a group of girls a few years below them. 

 

“I haven’t even started thinking about presents” Albus admitted. “What am I going to get everyone? What do you want?”.

 

“How about I give you a list of the books I haven’t got yet?” she shrugged. “You can pick one or two from that”.

  
“Easy enough”.

 

“What am I going to get you?” she muttered. Usually she was a lot more organised than this but she hadn’t quite got a handle on Christmas shopping yet, her assignments had been too demanding this year. 

 

“A sense of purpose?” he offered.

 

Rose couldn’t help smirking at that. She shook her head, trying not to laugh but not entirely succeeding. “Al, I’m afraid that’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself”.

 

“Unfortunately”.

 

“What are you going to get Scorpius?” she asked. “I mean, he’s your boyfriend now, isn’t he? You have to get him something”.

  
“I don’t think we’re actually together yet” Albus admitted. “We haven’t really discussed it”.

 

“But your date went really well” she reminded.

 

“Yeah, but it was just one date. I don’t know much about relationships but aren’t you supposed to go on more than one before you become official?” he looked up at her. 

 

“I don’t know” Rose mused. “I think you could get away with it”.

 

“I don’t really want to bring it up. I don’t even know how”.

 

“Well, I’m sure everything will just fall into place” she reassured, nudging him fondly.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of luck”.

 

“Speaking of Scorpius, you might want to look ahead” Rose said. 

 

“What?”.

 

Rose nudged him again and pointed towards the school gates. Scorpius was standing just outside of them, obviously waiting for someone. He was gazing down at his phone in a way that meant he wanted to look like he was doing something. “Did he tell you he was coming?” she asked.

 

Albus shook his head, confused. 

 

“Maybe he wants to surprise you then” she beamed at him. “That’s romantic”.

 

“I guess so” he muttered. Scorpius was still in his school uniform. His green blazer stood out against everyone else’s white shirts, making him even easier to spot. He looked perfect. Albus was suddenly incredibly aware of his untucked shirt and mostly crooked tie.

 

“You look fine, Al” Rose said, and he wondered whether she could read minds. 

 

As if he could feel his eyes on him, Scorpius looked up at the two of them, smiling automatically when he spotted them. 

 

“Rose, I’m so fucked”.

 

She just rolled her eyes at him, even though he wasn’t looking. “Malfoy” she greeted as they stopped in front of him.

 

“Weasley?” he replied, obviously confused by the use of his last name.

 

“That’s Granger-Weasley actually”.

 

“Oh, sorry”.

 

Rose smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I’m just teasing you” she reassured. 

 

He returned her smile easily. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up here. I know I didn’t say I would but I just, um, I really …”  _ missed you _ . Rose heard the words even if he didn’t say them. He was looking over at Albus now so it was obvious how the sentence wanted to end. 

 

“I’m glad you came” Albus said. That was Albus-speak from  _ I missed you too _ . Rose was enjoying this way too much. 

 

“Scorpius, have you ever been bowling?” she asked. 

 

Scorpius looked back at her and shook his head. “Not since I was little” he replied.

 

“We should go” she said, “the three of us”.

 

“That would be fun”.

 

When Scorpius looked at him, his eyes were so full of joy and hope that Albus couldn’t stop himself from agreeing automatically. “Sometimes you have good ideas, Rose” he said.

 

“This is wonderful” she beamed at him. 

 

He wasn’t sure if she was planning anything or if she genuinely wanted to spend time with them but he thought it might have been some unique combination of both of those options. He wasn’t sure how that made him feel. 

 

“Come on” she nudged him. “Bus stop is this way”. She started off down the street, Albus and Scorpius heading off after her, they fell into step next to each other. 

 

“I’m not quite sure why, but I feel like I should apologise in advance for whatever happens tonight” Albus said.

 

“Albus! I can hear you” Rose called. 

 

Scorpius laughed at the flustered look on Albus’ face. “Don’t apologise. It’s going to be fun, really” he reassured. 

 

Albus wanted so desperately to hold his hand but there were still a lot of people from school around. People who knew him and would make up a million rumours about this. He was sure there were already some churning away within the student body. He didn’t want to care. 

 

“I believe you”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a reason for them to go bowling. I just really love bowling with friends because it's often hilarious. There'll be some of that next chapter, don't you worry. I'll try and get that up in a few days.   
> I'll see you all soon <3


	12. Starry Eyes and Galaxy Minds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Happy new year and all that. I hope this year is good to you all, I really do. 2016 was a tragedy and let's hope that the only way it can go is up. The bar is set quite low, isn't it? This chapter is just pure Albus & Scorpius & Rose being the trio of my dreams. Their friendship is very, very important to me. There's a hint of fluff and a whole lot of banter.   
> Chapter title song: Freckles and Constellations by Dodie Clark (special shoutout to ScorbusAndShiz for directing me to this song a few chapters back)

The bowling alley was thriving with lots of groups of friends in various school uniforms. They all seemed to be celebrating the almost-end of another year, and the almost start of Christmas break. Albus wasn’t exactly sure what Rose said to the person working there but she somehow convinced him to give the lane furthest from everyone else, right down the other side of the alley. If they ignored the occasional, excited yells from the other side of the room then it was almost like they were in their own world. He thought that it might have been her point, she was looking way too smug as she led the two of them to their lane. 

 

“Why do you think bowling shoes always look like they’re straight from some 1950s American diner?” Rose asked as the three of switched their shoes over. 

 

“Maybe it’s their aesthetic” Albus smirked. 

 

She rolled her eyes in response. “I guess this bowling place is sort of styled after that era” she shrugged. Between the old jukebox that was hooked up to the sound system, the car that you walked passed as you came in and checkered tiles surrounding the bar it was easy to see the theme it was going for.

 

“There’s probably some historical significance” Albus replied. “Scorpius, do you know anything about the history of bowling alleys?” he asked, turning to the other boy.

 

Scorpius looked up at him, confused by the question. “Um, not really?” he muttered.

 

Rose laughed. “Don’t worry, Albus doesn’t expect you to know everything about history” she smirked, nudging her cousin fondly. 

 

Albus ignored her, standing and heading over to go and pick a bowling ball. “How strong are you?” he called back to his two friends. 

 

“Stronger than you!” Rose replied, following him. 

 

Scorpius caught Albus’ eye as he stood, beaming at him without a second thought. 

 

“I’m usually an eight” Rose muttered, picking up the orange ball and weighing it in her hand. 

 

Albus turned back to her quickly. “What am I? A ten?”.

 

“Bit more than that, I think” Scorpius smirked. 

 

Albus looked up at him, laughing and nudged him gently. “You’re at least a twelve” he replied.

  
“I am so alive” Rose whispered under her breath, happy that neither of them heard her. “Try for a nine” she said.

 

The three of them made their way back to their lane, laughing amongst themselves. Albus was up first. He wasn’t very confident when it came to bowling. It was more something that fell within Rose’s strengths. Sure, he enjoyed it, he just wasn’t all that good at it most of the time. And he still somehow felt like he had to impress Scorpius. Knowing that it was unlikely that he would wasn’t helping things.

 

“Gutter ball! Gutter ball!” Rose cheered, smirking. 

 

Albus turned and glared at her but she only laughed at him. The barriers weren’t up, he was absolutely going to get a gutter ball. He all but threw the ball down before quickly turning so that he wouldn’t see the outcome. The smile on Rose’s face told him all he needed to know about where it ended up. 

 

Scorpius pulled him against his side, trying not to laugh, and kissed his hair gently. “You still have one more go” he said.

 

“My chances of success aren’t very high” he replied.

 

“And we are off to the most wonderful start with Albus Potter scoring not one, but  _ two  _ gutter balls on the first round. This is really shaping up to be a great game” Rose teased.

 

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not good at bowling either” Scorpius smiled at him before heading for his turn.

 

“Oooh gutter ball. Brutal”.

 

“Rose, play nice” Albus teased.

 

Scorpius stuck his tongue out at the two of them, but it was all in vain. 

 

“You know what?” Rose said. “I think I’ll go ask for the barriers to be put up”.

 

“I’m not going up there and asking. We’re seventeen. It’ll look ridiculous” Albus replied, crossing his arms over his chest. 

 

“I said  _ I’ll  _ go, you knob”. She turned on her heel and quickly made her way back over to the steps. 

 

Albus felt a tug on his shirt and turned to look at Scorpius.

 

“I’m not sure if you realise this” he smiled, “but the lighting is making you glow”.

 

“White always glows in bowling alleys” he tugged on Scorpius’ blazer absently, “your shirt’s glowing too”.

 

“Trying to undress me?”.

 

“Pffft. You wish” Albus laughed.

 

Scorpius leaned down, capturing Albus in a kiss for a brief moment. It wasn’t long until the two of them heard Rose’s footsteps and quickly pulled away from each other again.

 

“It’s just me” she beamed, eyes flicking between the two of them. Even in the darker lighting she could tell that Albus was blushing. 

 

“I don’t think it’s fair that the barriers are conveniently going up before  _ your  _ turn” Albus said.

 

Rose just beamed at him before heading up for her turn.

 

“I think she planned it” Scorpius replied. “She was going to do this all along”.

 

“I think that’s cheating”.

 

“You’re both babies” she laughed, casting her bowling ball easily down the middle of the lane and hitting seven pins.

 

“Now I remember why I hate bowling with you” Albus muttered.

 

“Don’t lie, you  _ love  _ bowling with me!”.

 

“I always lose!”.

 

“That’s part of the fun, Al”.

 

Albus rolled his eyes and turned so that he was looking away from her, looking up at Scorpius instead. “Can you believe her?” he asked.

 

Scorpius was smiling and he felt inexplicably content. “You’re cute when you’re angry” he said.

 

“I’m not actually angry. This is just how Rose and I communicate sometimes”.

 

“Family banter?”.

 

“Exactly”.

 

“Alright, Mr. Potter, it’s your turn” Rose smiled, happy with her score for the moment. 

 

“Mr. Potter is my father. I’m Albus, just Albus” he smirked.

 

She shoved him towards the lane with just the right amount of force so that he wouldn’t topple over. “Shut up, you dork”. 

 

He winked at her in response.

 

“I think this goes without saying” Rose said, eyes flicking to Scorpius for a moment as the two of them watched Albus take more time that necessary to line up his shot, “but if you hurt him I’m going to have to destroy you”.

 

Scorpius looked down at her. It was easy to see that Albus and Rose were incredibly protective of each other, so it wasn’t a statement that he was surprised by. “I think it would be reassuring for you know that the thought of you destroying me is only  _ just  _ as horrifying as hurting Albus”.

 

She beamed up at him, eyes glinting in the dark lighting. “I was hoping you’d say that”.

 

“Ok, now I’m annoyed. How do you do it, Rose? How do you get the ball to go right down the lane?” Albus asked, jumping down the small step to join them. 

 

“It’s all in the wrist. You twist yours too much when you bowl” she shrugged.

 

“But how I am supposed to not twist it? That’s just how my hand works”.

 

“I think it’s a testament to your sexuality” she smirked, “that you can’t bowl straight”.

 

He rolled his eyes at her, “I don’t  _ bowl  _ at all, thank you very much”. 

 

“Ok, there’s a flaw in your logic there” Scorpius muttered. “ _ You  _ bowl straight”.

 

“I think the answer to that is that I’m better with my hands” Rose replied.

 

“You are absolutely horrible” Albus said.

 

“No need to be jealous, Al” she laughed.

 

“Jalous? Me? Of you!”.

 

“Oh? Is it my turn?” Scorpius asked, eyes flicking between the two of them before quickly heading towards the lane.

 

“Sorry” Albus apologised automatically.

 

“He’ll get used to us” Rose smiled, nudged him gently. 

  
“I’m not jealous you” he replied.

 

“I know”.

 

“But you’re not some kind of magical lady charmer” he reminded.

 

“I just haven’t got the chance to be yet” she winked at him.

 

“Gross”.

 

“All the pins are down and there are no survivors!” Scorpius called. He turned back to face the two of them, beaming.

 

“A spare is one step closer to a strike” Rose commended.

 

Scorpius came to stand next to Albus easily. He seemed to be full of excited energy, not quite able to keep still. 

 

“I’m proud of you” Albus laughed, watching as Rose gave them all a mock wave before lining up her shot. 

 

“I don’t really remember the last time I went bowling but it must have been years ago. I don’t remember if I was good or not” he shrugged.

 

“It’s hard to imagine you not being good at everything you do”.

 

Scorpius couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Really?” he teased.

 

Albus seemed to realise what he’d said, eyes widening and he turned slightly so that he wasn’t looking at Scorpius. He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. “Uh, yeah” he muttered.

 

***

 

“I didn’t even make it to 100” Albus said, gazing at their score card. “That’s pitiful”.

  
“You were getting the hang of it near the end. Must just take you some time to warm up” Rose reminded. “That’s why we pay for two games, you know”.

 

“I thought that was so the fun doesn’t end so soon?” Scorpius added.

 

“Oh that too. Usually everyone does better in the second game”.

 

“I don’t think you can do any better than you have” Albus rolled his eyes.

 

“Wanna bet?”.

 

“No actually, I quite like keeping my money”.

 

“Your loss” she shrugged, pressing the “next game” button on the console. 

 

“Wouldn’t it be  _ your  _ loss? Since you would be winning the bet?” Scorpius asked.

 

“Your turn, Al” she smirked. “And to answer your question” she turned to Scorpius as Albus headed for the lane, “yes it is my loss but I really like teasing him”.

 

“I can see that”.

 

“Don’t worry, it’s all good natured. Our whole family does it”.

 

“Your whole family teases him?”.

 

“Oh no” she waved a hand. “We all tease each other. It’s just something that we do”.

 

“I was worried there for a minute” he smiled.

 

“There’s a lot of us so if anyone was  _ really  _ teasing Al, they wouldn’t last very long”.

 

“That’s actually really reassuring”.

 

“You know while you two are over there chatting your life away I actually managed to hit some pins!” Albus called.

 

“That’s my boy!” Rose cheered, laughing as he came back over to them.

 

“Your turn” Albus smiled at Scorpius.

 

“I hope I can at least match you” he smirked.

 

“Shouldn’t take much for you to get four pins”.

 

Scorpius laughed and jumped up the small step to their lane easily.

 

“He’s good for you, you know” Rose nudged her cousin gently, lowering her voice.

 

“What do you mean?” he looked at her. 

 

“He really cares about you. It’s sweet”.

 

“Have you been  _ assessing  _ Scorpius? Is that why you invited him?” Albus asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Well, yes and no” she shrugged.

 

“Rose!”.

 

“I just wanted to see what he was like, ok? Can’t blame me for being protective” she smiled.

 

“Sadly”.

 

***

 

“Rose two strikes in a row is not  _ fair _ !” Albus whined.

 

“Maybe if you try hard enough you’ll be able to get a strike too” she replied easily.

 

“Unlikely” he muttered.

 

“You’re such a sore loser” she smirked.

 

“I hate you”.

 

“I feel like I should make my stance clear. I definitely agree with Albus on this” Scorpius said.

 

Rose laughed at that. “You’re emotionally compromised, you don’t get a say” she teased.

 

“Should we really be bringing my feelings into this?”.

 

“Opinions are all feelings” she reminded.

 

Scorpius looked down at her. He really liked Rose. He was quite easily finding himself forging a fierce friendship with her. That really wasn’t something he’d experienced before. “Your ability to always be right is just a little concerning” he replied.

  
  
  


“Holy shit, he might actually get this one” Rose muttered.

 

They both watched as Albus’ bowling ball held a clear course and headed straight for the middle pin. They seemed to be holding their breath as they waited. When the ball collided with the middle pin it caused a chain reaction, soon all the pins were knocked over. The first few seconds after that seemed to pass in absolute shock. 

 

Albus turned to them all. “Did I just -?” he broke off.

 

Rose seemed to recover first, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Albus you got a strike!”.

 

“I got a strike” he replied, still dumbfounded. 

 

“You aced it!” she beamed.

 

“I got a strike!” he repeated. 

 

Rose squealed, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. Somehow the two of them ended up jumping up and down with their excitement. Scorpius watched as the little ‘Strike’ animation played out on the screen above their heads, beaming. Albus made his way over to him next, Scorpius was expecting a hug like Rose had received, he was caught by surprised when Albus pulled him into a kiss instead. He could hear Rose giggling but pulled Albus closer anyway. When Albus pulled away again he was blushing and couldn’t seem to look Scorpius in the eye. 

 

Rose nudged him, dropping a few coins into his hand. “Go and pick a few songs in celebration” she smiled, indicating the jukebox with a flourish of her hand.

 

“You sure?”.

 

“Absolutely, go!” she shoved him.

 

“I also think this goes without saying” Rose smiled up at Scorpius, “but Albus really likes you”.

 

"Felt like it” he muttered, eyes quickly flicking to the other boy. 

 

“He sometimes has questionable taste in music too so don’t be surprised if he picks some weird stuff” she shrugged.

 

“I couldn’t care less what he picks, honestly”.

 

She laughed. “Alright, you two have my blessing” she beamed.

  
“I’m glad” he smirked.

 

“Obviously you’ve been waiting for it all afternoon”.

 

“Obviously”.

 

“I tried to mix some indie jams with some top 40 and I guess we’ll see what order they end up playing in” Albus said, returning from the jukebox. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his school pants and he rocked back on his heels when he reached the two of them again. “You know, you didn’t have to wait for me” he said, tilting his head towards the lane.

 

“It’ll just be hard to top your strike” Scorpius replied.

 

“If anyone can do it, you can” he smiled.

 

Scorpius laughed, heading to pick up his trusty blue bowling ball.

 

“I need a girlfriend” Rose muttered, so quietly that Albus was only just able to hear her.

 

“Sometimes it doesn’t feel real, you know? Can you believe he’s a real person?”.

 

Rose watched as Scorpius only managed to knock over nine of the ten pins. One was trapped in the corner and he looked just a little bit frustrated with that. He looked back at them and both she and Albus gave him a reassuring thumbs up. “I think if people like Scorpius can exist then my faith in humanity has increased just a little” she smiled, looking back at Albus.

 

“I’m not sure if he’s entirely human”.

 

“He could be an angel” she shrugged. “We’ll never really know, will we?”.

 

He laughed at that. Supernatural creatures only existed in fairy tales and drawn out tv shows, but it was almost hilarious to entertain the thought. 

 

“Alright Rose, time to show me how a professional does it” Scorpius muttered. He seemed a little moody, having just missed the last pin.

 

“Professional is a bit of a stretch. I think I would rather consider myself a bowling enthusiast” she smirked. 

 

“Don’t worry Scorpius. I’m sure you’ll get a strike next time” Albus smiled at him, laughing when Scorpius just elbowed him in return. 

 

“Alright Al, last round of the game” Rose beamed at the two of them. “Let’s see if you can make a comeback”.

  
“Doubt it” he shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like bowling is very muggle. I like the idea of these little dorks doing aggressively muggle things in this instance, since I haven't immersed them in the Wizarding World for this fic. I've never been to the UK and I have no idea what bowling alleys are like over there but the one I used for this chapter is one I frequent and it's an amazing place.   
> (irrelevant side note: if you squint, you might be able to see my headcannon for Albus' sexuality).


	13. The Stars Don't Really Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been away for a week trapped on a family holiday with limited Wi-fi and even more limited phone signal which was tragic let me tell you. So I spent a lot of time working on this. In short, it's taking me unexpected places and it's turning into something dramatic. There was a little bit of that a few chapters back but it's even more apparent in this chapter. I hope you all still enjoy it!  
> Chapter Title Song: Black and Gold by Sam Sappro

“I think Scorpius beating you by a mere two points was my absolute favourite part of the game” Rose smirked. The three of them were walking towards the bus stop. After a few games of air hockey in the arcade they thought it would be best for them to start on their way home again. The buses were incredibly unreliable at the best of times, and it was only getting later. 

 

“I’m sorry about that” Scorpius muttered.

 

Albus laughed. “You earned it” he smiled. “I don’t take it personally”.

 

“Have you ever considered that Albus might have let you win?” Rose asked, smirking at the two of them.

 

“Rose, you know I’m terrible at bowling” he replied. “Even if I wanted to win, it’s not possible”.

 

“Maybe next time I’ll go easy on you” Scorpius beamed at him. 

 

“You don’t have to dumb yourself down for me” Albus smirked, patting his shoulder absently.

 

Rose burst into a fit of laughter. Scorpius looked like he was desperately trying not to. He just shook his head in response, biting down on his lip.

 

“We should do this more often” Rose said after she recovered from her laughing fit. “Hang out, the three of us”.

 

Albus and Scorpius looked at each other, and then away again when they started blushing.

 

“I think that sounds like a good idea” Albus replied.

 

“Me too” Scorpius agreed.

 

Albus wondered if Rose’s cheeks were hurting, since she’d been smiling so much at them. He didn’t think he’d hear the end of this for awhile. 

 

***

 

“Aunt Ginny you should have  _ seen  _ them. They couldn’t keep their eyes off each other it was  _ adorable _ ” Rose was saying. She and Albus were helping Ginny with the dishes. Rose was handing an incredibly red Albus a cup which he moodily stacked back into the cupboard.

 

“For the moment I can only imagine” Ginny smiled, her eyes flicking to her son as one of the cups fell over. He only narrowly managed to catch it before it crashed to the floor.

 

“Maybe we should stop talking about it. I think it’s severely affecting Al’s motor skills” Rose laughed.

 

“It could be the embarrassment” she mused.

 

“He does resemble a tomato at the moment”.

 

“I would really appreciate it if you didn’t talk about me like I’m not right here” Albus muttered.

 

“Well, how about you tell your mother about your date instead then?”.

 

“Rose, it wasn’t a date. You were there” he reminded.

 

“I was merely observing and -”.

 

“Assessing. Mum she was assessing Scorpius. Can you believe that?”.

 

Ginny laughed at the two of them. “Wouldn’t you do the same if you were in Rose’s position?” she asked.

 

“But that’s … that’s different!” Albus protested. 

 

“How is that different?” Rose asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring him down.

 

Albus just shrugged, unsure how to answer that. “It just is”.

 

“It’s not any different. Aunt Ginny, tell him it’s not different”.

 

“Al, there’s no difference” Ginny said.

 

“Well what was your assessment of him then?” Albus asked, crossing his arms over his chest. It seems that both of them had forgotten the dishes for the moment.

 

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the world that could be better for you” Rose rebutted.

 

“And?”.

 

Rose softened, picking up a plate and starting to dry it with the dishtowel. “And, he makes you incredibly happy. Don’t worry, I let him know that if he hurts you he’s in for a shock” she beamed at him. 

 

“Do you think he will?” he muttered.

 

“Not with the way he looks at you. You should see it, but obviously you can’t. I mean, he looks at you differently when you’re not looking”.

 

Albus didn’t have anything to say to that. He just blushed and avoided her eyes, taking the plate from her and putting it back into the cupboard easily.

 

“Are you talking about Albus’ boyfriend?” Lily asked, popping into the room and beaming at all of them.

 

“He’s not my -”.

 

“Oh, don’t lie to yourself. He absolutely is” Rose cut in. 

 

“What’s he like, Rose?” Lily continued, crossing the kitchen and picking up another dishtowel. With all their stalling they needed an extra pair of hands.

 

“Oh he’s a sweetheart” Rose smiled.

 

“When do I get to meet him?” Lily turned to her brother.

 

“With any luck, you don’t”.

 

She just rolled her eyes at him in response. “That’s not fair” she said. “Mum, tell him that’s not fair”.

 

Ginny didn’t say anything this time, just smirked and kept her eyes on the slowly cooling water. 

 

“You should bring him”.

 

They all turned to look at James who’d somehow decided that he would lean against the doorway to the kitchen and interject.

 

“Bring him where?” Albus asked.

 

“On Saturday. You should bring him” he added.

 

“Ooooh then I’ll get to meet him” Lily clapped her hands together.

 

“What if he doesn’t  _ want  _ to meet you?”.

 

“Are you joking, Al? He’d loved to and you know it” Rose nudged him. 

 

Albus looked around at his family. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous about this. He talked about them enough anyway that he guessed it made sense, and he’d already met Scorpius’ parents. “Ok” he muttered, ignoring Lily’s cheer. “I guess I’ll ask him if he wants to come”.

 

“My work here is done” James smirked, turning to leave. 

 

“If any of you do anything stupid or say anything stupid -”.

 

“Albus” Lily interrupted. “We’re family. It’s our job to make fun of in front of people you’re romantically attracted to”.

 

“I hate you”.

 

“Al” Ginny chastised. 

 

“It’s ok, mum. I know he doesn’t  _ really  _ hate me”.

 

***

 

Scorpius had never been the biggest fan of high school, or specifically of Hogwarts. He was grateful that his parents cared so much about him that they valued his education and wanted him to get the best. Maybe their experiences of the school had been a lot better than his always were. He wished it was as easy as that. 

 

The hallways at Hogwarts were just as hectic as they were in public schools. At least, he thought they were. The only real difference was the coloured blazers, often grouped together. Some people had friends from different houses but most of the time people stuck to themselves. One of the houses in particular. A house that although he was a part of, seemed to hate him with a ferocity that Scorpius was sure he would never understand. That must have been why he had no friends. The only good thing about the hallways being so crowded is that he could usually slip away quite easily. He preferred it that way. He didn’t like being approached because often it didn’t end so well. When Goyle walked up to him, flanked by two of his friends Scorpius couldn’t help but feel that he would rather just sink into the ground right there. Usually there was enough people in the hallway to hide him. They must have been seeking him out this time. That didn’t make him feel any better. 

 

“Malfoy” Goyle greeted, a twisted smile on his face. 

 

“Goyle” he acknowledged. He tried to turn cold, but that was never truly his strong point. He wasn’t like them. He was too nervous for it to stick. He focused instead on trying to glare at Goyle and hoping that it came out sort of threatening. 

 

“Heard you went bowling yesterday” he continued. Goyle had a way of never quite looking at people, always seemingly like he had better things to do than make your life hell. It had always been unnerving. “With Potter”.

 

So this was about Albus then. Scorpius didn’t have the heart to say anything.

  
“And not just with Potter, but with Granger-Weasley as well”.

 

“You have a problem with that?”. Scorpius knew that was a stupid question. Goyle wouldn’t be confronting him like this if he didn’t have a problem. 

 

“You really should do a better job of picking your friends, Malfoy. It’s a shame for you to be wasted on such …” Goyle broke off, seemingly searching for the right word. “Neanderthals” he settled on. 

 

“Since when do you care who I’m friends with?” he asked, trying to stand up straighter. Goyle wasn’t much taller than he was, but he always seemed to make him feel so much smaller. 

 

“You’re one of us. Even if you don’t act like it”.

 

“I have never been one of  _ you _ ” he reminded.

 

“There aren’t many of us left, Malfoy. You would do well not to sour that”.

 

Scorpius could feel his hands clenching into fists. He would probably hit Goyle if it would do any good, but he wasn’t a violent person and it wouldn’t help the situation. 

 

Goyle smirked at him. His two friends behind him looked like they were stifling a laugh. “All I’m saying” he said, straightening the cuffs of his blazer absently, “is that it would be a shame if something were to happen to them”. The three of them headed off down the corridor again, their laughter echoing as they went. 

 

Scorpius felt sick. He unclenched his fists and pulled at his tie, trying to loosen it, because suddenly he couldn’t seemed to breath properly. He was incredibly aware that the hallway was emptying out around him and that he was probably going to be late to his next class, but he didn’t want to care. He was too anxious. He needed to talk to someone, to his father probably. He needed to check if Albus was ok. And Rose. He wanted to just drop into the depths of the earth and disappear forever, but that wasn’t likely. 

 

“Mr. Malfoy”.

 

Scorpius looked up at the voice. “Professor McGonagall” he greeted, cursing because he sounded as shaken as he felt.

 

“You’re going to be late for class” she approached him. They were the only two left in the hallway now.

 

“I’m sorry” he apologised automatically. “I just -”.

 

She softened, obviously noticing how rattled he seemed to be. “Is everything ok, Scorpius?” she asked. Things had never been easy for him, that much she knew.

 

“I -” Scorpius hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he should tell her. He desperately wanted to confide in someone but if he appeared to be a snitch then it would just make things worse for him. “No, Professor” he answered.

 

Professor McGonagall nodded, understanding completely. “Scorpius, you know that I can keep a secret, don’t you?”.

 

He nodded.

 

“Let’s go to my office”.

 

***

 

Harry Potter had been the Head of Law Enforcement for a few years now. No matter what anyone were to tell you, he absolutely earned that position. He was, and always had been, the department’s best officer. His promotion made sense to everyone in their unit. It was people on the outside, people on their radar, that felt attacked by the decision. 

 

Draco Malfoy had no contact with the people he’d spent his youth with. He only spoke to his mother on occasion, and that was all very secretive. When he and Astoria had married they’d pulled away from everything that he had been before that. This was especially paramount when Astoria discovered she was pregnant. Draco had cut off any sort of negativity that he’d experienced as a teenager. He’d removed himself from all that had entailed. He didn’t speak to Harry Potter, though he would assume that it would become more common for him to do so considering the bond between their children, but this was something that he needed to bring to his attention. It did seem that the evils of the past didn’t want to stay hidden forever. 

 

“It’s open!” Harry called in response to the knock on his office door. He couldn’t hide the surprise on his face when Draco entered, closing the door behind him. “Mal-Draco” he greeted. 

 

“Po-Harry”.

 

Harry placed the papers he was currently shuffling through down on his desk, straightened his glasses and indicated the chair in front of him. “Is there something I can help you with?” he asked.

 

“It’s about your son” Draco explained, taking the seat.

 

Harry sighed, rubbing a hand over his temple. “What did James do this time?”.

  
“Not James. Albus” he corrected.

 

“Albus?” Harry asked, eyes flicking to Draco again. 

 

“I feel this is a much more serious matter than we believed it to be”.

 

Harry didn’t say anything in return, but he seemed to resume the state of confusion that Draco remembered from their childhoods. 

 

“Do you remember” he leaned forward, “the … gang that I was apart of in high school?” he asked.

 

“Of course I do. Your leader tried to kill me” Harry replied.

 

“And it’s wonderful that he never succeeded” Draco muttered. “I fear that there might be … a resurgence occurring”.

 

“The Death Eaters are rejoining?” he asked, leaning forward against the table. “Have you heard anything?”.

 

“I turned away from them a long time ago” Draco reminded. “Scorpius was approached by some fellow students. One of them was Goyle’s son”.

 

“Goyle? Did they threaten him?”.

 

Draco nodded, “Not just Scorpius”.

 

“Albus as well?”.

 

“And Miss. Granger-Weasley”.

 

“Rose?”.

 

“Scorpius mentioned that Goyle has seen them all together. It’s obvious that their … affiliation had become apparent”.

 

Harry dropped his head into hands for a moment, pulling at his hair. “Thank you, Draco” he looked up again. “I’ll keep an eye out”.

 

“I thought you might want to check in case there were … currents” he explained.

 

“The department will keep an eye out as well” he reassured. “How is Scorpius?” he added.

 

“Worried”.

 

“Understandable”.

 

“It’s not himself that he’s worried about”.

 

It seemed to take Harry longer than it should have to realise what that meant. Draco remembered that Ginny had always been the observant one between the two of them. “Ah” he muttered. “In that case I suspect we’ll be seeing more of each other”.

 

“Most likely”.

 

“You don’t have to sound do regretful, Draco” he smirked.

 

Draco rolled his eyes at that and stood. “Thank you for your time, Potter” he said.

 

“Thank you for your concern” he replied.

 

He nodded, headed towards the door swiftly.

 

“Draco, I was sorry to hear about Astoria” Harry added.

 

Draco turned, hand holding the doorknob with a grip that was stronger than necessary. “So was I”.

 

“You’re welcome at ours anytime. The three of you”.

 

“Thank you … Harry”.

 

***

 

“It’s Wednesday so you still have a few days to ask him” Rose reminded, linking her arm through his. “I think it’s a good idea. It won’t be nearly as bad as you think it is”.

 

“I really don’t know how I feel about him meeting everyone” Albus muttered. The two of them were walking towards the front doors. The end of the school day meant a flurry of activity as everyone battled to leave as quickly as they could. 

 

“Why?”.

  
“I don’t know”.

 

“Are you afraid we’ll make fun of you?” she poked him.

 

Albus flinched and poked her back, making her laugh. “Not really. I just … I don’t know”.

 

“You just want to keep him  _ all  _ to yourself, don’t you?” she teased, grabbing the door before it closed behind the two girls in front of them.

 

“Maybe” he shrugged. “It’s just so early”.

 

“You’re worried that he’ll see your family and won’t like anymore, aren’t you?” Rose looked at him, releasing his arm and holding the door open for the next student.

 

Albus had always been struck by just how well she should see through him. “Maybe” he repeated, staring across at the other kids to avoid her eyes.

 

“Scorpius is absolutely enamored with you. I don’t think anything’s going to change that” she reassured, falling into step beside him again. “Not even Lily and James”.

 

“I hope so”.

 

“You worry too much”.

 

“He hasn’t messaged me all day. I haven’t heard from him since yesterday morning. Do you think I should be concerned?” he asked.

 

Rose shook her head. “It’s probably nothing”.

 

“What if something happened and he’s not telling me? What if his mum is getting worse? What if -”.

 

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Rose asked. Scorpius was standing outside the gates again, waiting for the two of them. 

 

“There’s something wrong”. Scorpius was fidgeting. He only did that when he was incredibly nervous about something. Nervous or panicky, either one. He kept looking up from his phone, his eyes flicking around as if someone was going to jump him.

 

Rose looked at him, the concern clearly etching its way onto her face as well. “Hi Scorpius” she greeted, trying to be cheery but laying it to just a little too much. 

 

Scorpius seemed to visibly deflate with relief when the two of them stopped in front of him. “Hey” he replied.

  
“What’s wrong?” Albus asked. 

 

Scorpius looked down, avoiding his eyes. “It’s complicated” he whispered.

 

“Scorp-”.

 

“Do you ever feel like there’s someone watching you? But you don’t know where they are or why they are?” he interrupted.

 

“Right” Rose muttered. “My house. Now”.

 

“I just needed to know that you two were ok”.

 

“What’s wrong?” Albus repeated. 

 

“Albus, not here”.

 

“Well, my house is this way. It’s safe there” Rose explained. 

 

Scorpius looked at her for a moment. She was determined, that much he could tell. He nodded and followed her as she started heading down the street. Albus fell into step next to him. Scorpius could tell he wanted to say something, wanted to ask what was wrong again. The question lay in the air between them. When they were safe distance from the school, safe enough that there wasn’t any students around, Albus reached over and laced his fingers with Scorpius’. Scorpius squeezed his hand in return.

 

“I’m not keeping secrets from you” he muttered. “Please don’t think that”.

 

“Why do you think there’s someone watching you?” Albus asked, voice much quieter now. 

 

“I’ll explain when we’re inside”.

 

“Oh, Scorpius, Albus has something to ask you” Rose smirked, stopping in place and waiting for the two of them to catch up. She fell into step on Scorpius’ other side. 

 

Scorpius looked over and noticed that Albus was blushing, he just smiled at him. “Yes?” he prompted.

 

“Um” Albus cleared his throat absently, “every second Saturday our family - ours meaning mine and Rose’s family - meet up and spend the day together. This Saturday is the next time that’s happening. You’re welcome to come if you want” he managed, running his free hand through his hair and avoiding Scorpius’ eyes.

 

“You want me to meet your family?”.

 

“My family wants to meet you. Desperately”.

 

“I see”.

 

“I thought that it might be fair” Albus continued, aware that he was just rambling now, “because I met your parents and everything”.

 

“Do you want me to come?” he asked.

 

“I wouldn’t mind you being there. I mean, it would nice”.

 

“Then I’m there” Scorpius smiled.

 

“Wait, really?” Albus looked up at him, stopping in place for a moment.

 

“Would I lie to you?” he asked. 

 

“I would hope not”.

 

“Exactly”.

  
“Don’t worry, Scorpius, everyone’s going to love you” Rose beamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've all been so nice about this fic and it gives me strength, thank you all so much. The next chapter will most likely go up in a week. Until then, I wish you all well. 
> 
> (side note: I'm over at revolution-freewill on Tumblr is anyone wants to ask me about this at all).


	14. In The Darkness, You're My Spark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Here's the next chapter. It features some drama, some seriousness, some fluff and some Potter family banter. I hope you all like it!  
> Chapter Title Song: Worlds Apart by Go Comet!

The Granger-Weasley house was full of warmth, neat furnishings and about a billion books. However many they were, they were always neatly stacked onto bookcases. There was at least one in almost every room in the house. Even one of the kitchen cabinets had needed to be converted into a bookshelf since Hermione’s relatives often sent her cookbooks for a reason she would probably never truly know. There was nothing that made Scorpius feel as calm as books did so the second he stepped foot into the house he felt immediately at home. None of them had expected that they wouldn’t be alone once they arrived there. Rose knew that her parents and her brother were usually out until the later hours during the week. When she lead the two boys into the living room and found Harry, Draco and Hermione standing there she could only freeze in place, confused as to what she’d walked in on.

  
“Dad?” Albus and Scorpius asked at the same time.

 

“Albus?”.

 

“Scorpius?”.

 

“Mum, I thought you would still be at work” Rose said, choosing to speak before a silence fell over them all. 

 

“Something more important came up” Hermione answered. She seemed a lot more stressed than she usually was, her brow was furrowed and the three of them were standing quite stiffly, now that she noticed it.

  
“What happened?”.

 

“Dad … is this about -?” Scorpius broke off, his eyes flicking around the room and he pulled at the cuffs of his blazer.

 

“Yes” Draco answered. “There’s more to this than you think, Scorpius”.

 

“Oh”.

 

“What is it?” Albus asked, stepping forward so that he was standing next to Scorpius. He was tempted to grab onto his hand again but was aware of how many family members were in the room. 

 

“I don’t think I can talk about it yet” Scorpius muttered, avoiding his eyes. 

 

“Why not?”.

 

“Albus, I -”.

 

“No, what is it? Why can’t you tell me? You’ve never not been able to tell me anything before” he interrupted.

 

“Al” Rose said, placing a gentle hand on her cousin’s arm to help calm him down. She could tell her was starting to get upset. Sometimes Albus hid the fact that he was upset by getting angry, and that wouldn’t help the situation at all. Scorpius already looked visibly shaken. 

 

“I can’t tell you yet” Scorpius explained. “Not here. Not now”.

 

The three adults looked around at each other. They seemed to be deciding just how much they could tell their children. There was a fine line between protecting and shielding and they needed to be careful where they stood. They were just children, but they needed to be aware what was happening around them. Harry just wished that Ginny was here. 

 

“Scorpius” Draco prompted. “You can tell them”.

 

Scorpius hesitated, his eyes flicking between everyone in the room but not quite landing on any of them. He seemed to be having trouble finding the words that he needed. He turned to Albus in the hopes that speaking directly to him would help calm his nerves. “Do you remember” he started, “the other day when we went on our”  _ date _ .

 

Albus nodded. His hand moved, as if he was going to hold Scorpius’ hand when he remembered that they weren’t alone. It dropped his side again. 

 

“That boy that approached us - me, after the movie?” he continued.

 

Albus nodded again. He was becoming increasingly nervous as he feared that he knew where this was going. 

 

“He, uh, approached me again yesterday. At school” Scorpius muttered. He was looking at the ground now, wringing his hands in front of him. 

 

“Did he hurt you?” Albus asked. He could feel his anger flaring up again, this time at Goyle. 

 

Scorpius shook his head. “No, I’m ok. He, um, he saw us when we went bowling. Or someone saw us and told him”.

 

“Oh”.

 

Scorpius closed his eyes, not wanting to say the next words. “He threatened you. And Rose” he said. “He said it would be a shame if something were to happen to you”. 

 

“He threatened us?” Rose asked. 

 

Scorpius nodded, opening his eyes and looking at her. 

 

“Goyle’s son” Hermione supplied. 

 

Rose felt the weight of the words. It seemed to click in her brain just how serious this situation was and why their parents were so worried. “Oh no” she said.

 

“What?” Albus asked, looking around at them all. “What does that mean?”.

 

Hermione smiled, just the faintest bit, because sometimes Albus was just so much like his father.

 

“Albus, how much do you know?” Scorpius asked. 

 

“Know about what?”.

 

Scorpius looked over at the adults. Harry was shifting around as if he was uncomfortable, running a hand through his hair. Scorpius recognised the same gesture from Albus. He looked to his dad instead. He wasn’t quite sure that it was their place to tell Albus about everything that had happened in the past.

 

“Albus” Harry muttered, eyes on the ground in front of him, “I think we need to have a conversation”.

 

Albus looked nothing less than confused at that, and a little horrified. “Dad-”.

 

“Not that kind of conversation!” Harry corrected, shoving his glasses up his nose again. “A conversation about things that I never thought you would have to know about”.

 

“Ok?”.

 

Everyone turned automatically at the sound of the front door being aggressively pushed open and then slammed closed again. “The bloody Death Eaters!” Ron called. “The blood Death Eaters returning this is ridic-” he broke off, paused in the doorway to the living room when he saw the three children standing there. Hermione was glaring daggers at him.

 

“The Death Eaters?” Albus asked, his eyes flicking around everyone in the room and then landing on Draco. “Does that mean -” he broke off. 

 

Draco nodded, eyes sombre.

 

“Oh”.

 

“Dad” Scorpius muttered. He looked absolutely horrified.

 

Draco shook his head, not wanting to elaborate on that any further. 

 

“We have to do something” Albus whispered. His eyes locked onto his Aunt Hermione. “Does the Ministry know?” he asked her. 

 

Hermione nodded. “We’re trying to work something out. We’ll need to patrol former members and watch for suspicious activity” she said. 

 

“But Scorpius” Albus turned to him. “What about you?”.

 

“I only have a few days of school left” he shrugged. “I don’t think it matters”.

 

“Of course it matters”.

  
“Albus” Harry warned. 

 

“We can’t just leave him!” Albus turned on his father.

 

“Calm down” Rose grabbed onto his arm. 

 

“What if someone hurts you?” he turned back to Scorpius.

 

“Albus, it’s not me that I’m worried about” Scorpius replied. 

 

That seemed to make Albus pause in his tracks. His brain seemed to short-circuit and he ran out of things to say. “You don’t need to worry about me” he said, voice a lot quieter this time. 

 

“Bit late for that”.

 

“Professor McGonagall” Rose said suddenly. She was beaming and looking between her mother and Harry. 

 

“What?” Harry muttered. 

 

Hermione was smiling proudly, like she knew her daughter was the smartest person in the room, aside from herself of course. “Professor McGonagall” she confirmed.

 

Harry looked at Hermione, obviously confused. 

 

“And Professor Longbottom” she said to Rose. 

  
“Neville?” Harry asked. “What does he have to do with it?”.

 

“We have friends in high places” she looked at him. “Eyes everywhere” she added when Harry still looked puzzled. She couldn’t help smiling a little at that. 

 

“Ohhhh”.

 

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, both rolling their eyes at that.

 

“No, that’s definitely helpful” Harry added.

 

***

 

“So you’re under watch then?” Albus asked. He, Rose and Scorpius had headed to the park after a while, the boys claiming a swing each while Rose perched herself on the play equipment platform to face them. The adults had needed some time to plan certain aspects of what was happening and would happen. It was obvious that they’d interrupted something and Rose was smart enough to pull them both away before Scorpius become paranoid and Albus became upset. 

 

“Seems like it” Scorpius replied. “It doesn’t matter much, Al, really”.

 

“It matters to me” he looked up at him. 

 

Something seemed to pass between them. Something that they hadn’t really admitted to yet,  _ feelings _ . 

 

Scorpius kicked at the ground below him, stopping himself from swinging. Albus was doing the same next to him. 

 

“I think it’s a good idea” Rose shrugged. “I just hope that someone keeps an eye on us as well. If we’re being threatened”.

 

“I don’t want anything to happen to the two of you” Scorpius muttered. 

 

“I don’t think it will” Rose smiled. “They wouldn’t dare”.

 

“They’re a lot closer to you, Scorpius. You go to school with their children” Albus reminded.

 

“You don’t need to worry, Albus” he muttered. “I’ve been dealing with them for a long time”.

 

“I’m sure if you need someone to fight for your honor, Albus would be more than happy to” Rose teased.

 

“I’d do it” he confirmed. 

 

Scorpius laughed at that, reaching out a hand to shove at Albus’ shoulder absently. “I’d do the same for you” he said.

 

“Well, you two are the cutest couple  _ I’ve  _ ever seen” she smirked.

 

“You mustn’t have seen many couples then” Scorpius returned her smirk.

 

“Couple?” Albus echoed. 

 

“Yes, Al, a couple is when two people who are romantically inclined towards each other spend an awful lot of time together. I think you two fall into that category”. 

 

Albus bit down on his lip, looking down and kicking at the dirt with his feet. 

 

“I was going to ask” Scorpius muttered. “I guess I just didn’t know when”.

 

“Ask?” he looked up at him.

 

“A couple” Scorpius shrugged. “We could be that. If you wanted to”.

 

“Oh, you can bet your  _ arse  _ that he wants to” Rose beamed at them. She clapped her hands together excitedly and Albus realised she must have been spending too much time around Lily. 

 

“I can speak for myself, thanks” he looked at her. 

 

“Oh sorry, love” she smirked. “Thought a cat had caught your tongue”.

 

“I hate you”.

 

“Love you too”.

 

“Do you want to?” Albus asked, turning his attention to Scorpius again. 

 

Scorpius looked hopeful, almost too much so. He nodded, a smile making its way onto his face. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind it” he shrugged. 

 

“I think I’d quite like it, actually”.

 

“I think so too” he looked away, blushing. 

 

Albus did the same, both of them avoiding each other’s eyes. Rose was laughing with the same amount of delight as if she was watching her favourite tv show. Albus wasn’t even bothered by it. 

 

***

 

The Potter household was all too quiet when Albus arrived home that night. He’d expected his father to be waiting for him but he must have still been over at the Granger-Weasley’s. If they needed to so desperately talk about what was happening, and it seemed that they did just due to everyone’s safety, then he couldn’t really blame anyone for that. Ginny was in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner. She wasn’t the best cook but if Harry wasn’t home there wasn’t many alternatives. Albus noted the take away boxes on the bench automatically and smirked. 

 

“Need a hand?” Albus asked. 

 

Ginny looked over at him, a little confused at the offer. “With the dishes?” she asked, just to be sure.

 

“I’m going for Son of the Year this year. This might give me an edge over James” he shrugged.

 

Ginny smiled at that and threw him a dishtowel, which he managed to catch somehow. “What did you need to talk about?” she asked.

 

“Can’t I just offer to help my mum without an ulterior motive?”.

 

“Not the Albus Potter I know”.

 

Albus huffed, picking up a plate from the drying rack and running the dishtowel over it carefully. “There’s a lot actually” he admitted. 

 

Ginny just nodded in response. 

  
“I guess I should start with the harder one first” he muttered, almost to himself. 

 

“Take your time” she replied.

 

“What do you remember about dad and Draco Malfoy being mortal enemies?” Albus asked.

 

Ginny paused for a moment. She seemed to be searching for a reason that Albus would ask about that time in their lives. The past wasn’t something they opted to talk about very much. “Is this about Scorpius?” she asked.

 

“No. Well yes, but not entirely”.

 

“What do you want to know?” she asked. There was no reason for her to hide anything from him. If Albus was curious enough, and concerned enough it seemed, to ask her about it directly then he was ready to hear whatever he needed to. 

 

“What were the Death Eaters exactly?” Albus asked. “And why did dad hate them so much? And why was Draco Malfoy involved? Do you think they’re really making a resurgence? Should I be more concerned?”.

 

“Wait a minute” Ginny held up a hand to stop him. “A resurgence?”.

 

“Dad hasn’t told you yet then” Albus sighed. “It’s not his fault really. Everything’s a bit of a mess, I think”.

 

Ginny nodded, her expression turning to one of concern. 

 

“Scorpius was approached at school by Goyle’s son. I think that name means more to you than to me” Albus said. He knew that he was right when Ginny stiffened at the words. “He threatened me and Rose. Goyle, I mean, not Scorpius. Goyle threatened the two of us. Apparently he said it would be a shame if something were to happen to us. Dad seems to think this means a resurgence of the Death Eaters. Aunt Hermione and Draco Malfoy think so too. Oh, and Uncle Ron. I just don’t really know what that means”.

 

Ginny sighed. She took the rubber gloves off her hands and drained the sink, running her hands through her hair. She took a seat at the kitchen table and indicated for Albus to follow her. He did so, sitting next to her. “The Death Eaters were a group of entitled idiots” she explained. “I think the best way to describe them now would be terrorists but they were more than that. Their leader wanted to kill your dad. He went by the name Lord Voldemort but his real name was Tom Riddle. There’s a lot more to this story but it’s too complicated to go into right now”.

 

Albus nodded, he leaned forwards against the table, leaning towards her. “Why was Draco Malfoy a terrorist?” he asked. “It’s hard to imagine Scorpius being related to a terrorist”.

 

“This was all happening when we were your age” she reminded. “He was only a part of it because his family was”.

 

“He was sucked into it?” Albus asked, shocked. 

 

“He did his share of bad things, and I won’t excuse those, but I don’t think he would have ended that way if it weren’t for his father”.

 

He nodded, understanding. 

 

“There were a lot of attacks when we were your age. Me, your dad, your Aunt Hermione, and your Uncle Ron were trying to do our best to stop it but we couldn’t seem to do enough at the time. Everything that we went through, Albus, was so that you wouldn’t have to. You, James, Lily and your cousins”.

 

“Why were they attacking people? Or is it too hard to explain?”.

 

“I don’t want to go into details” she admitted, “but if there’s a resurgence, Albus, then you have every right to be concerned”.

 

“I’m worried about Scorpius” Albus said. “What if something happens to him?”.

  
“Professor McGonagall won’t let anything happen to him” Ginny replied automatically. 

 

“Dad mentioned something about her and Neville keeping an eye out, or something”.

 

“He’ll be safe there” she reassured. She was sure that as long as Professor McGonagall was there, then Hogwarts would remain one of the safest places on Earth.  

 

“What about when he leaves?”.

 

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be safe at home too”.

 

“But he can’t teleport. There’s a time between when he’s at school and when he’s home”.

 

Ginny nodded, she patted Albus’ shoulder gently. “It’ll be ok”.

 

“How am I supposed to protect him?” he asked, almost horrified, as if protecting Scorpius was the most important thing in the world to him. Ginny guessed that in his eyes it might have been. Albus wasn’t really one to care about himself if someone else was also in some sort of danger. It was one of the many things he got from his father. From both his parents, really. 

 

“He’ll be able to protect himself just as easily, Albus” she smiled.

 

“I want to protect him” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “I guess that’s the second thing I needed to talk to you about” he looked up at her. 

 

“Oh?”.

 

“Um, hang on. James! Lily!” he called towards the door. It wasn’t long until he heard the thundering footsteps of his sister. She skidded in the doorway, almost losing her balance and slipping in her socks. James wasn’t too far behind, he leaned on the doorframe absently, gazing over at the two of them curiously. 

 

“What is it?” Lily asked.

 

“I, um, have a boyfriend” Albus admitted, looking down at the table. 

 

Lily squealed and bounced over, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. “Yes! I’m so proud of you! I’m so happy for you! This is amazing!” she yelled. 

 

“I’m right here” he muttered, patting her back in return.

 

“I have to up my dating game” James half-whispered. “I’m happy for you, Al”.

 

“Thanks” he smiled faintly, as he pried Lily off him. 

 

“Does that mean Scorpius is coming on Saturday?” Lily asked him, looking up with such hope in her eyes he wouldn’t dare say no.

 

“Yeah, he is”.

 

She squealed again.

 

“Lily” Ginny chastised, grimacing at the sound.

 

“Sorry mum!” she beamed. “Oh, I’m so excited to meet him”.

 

“I’ll let him know”.

 

“Good”. Lily rushed out of the room yelling something about needed to call Hugo and Teddy and Albus almost regretted telling her at all. She would have found out eventually. There was never a reason to hide from his family because of that. They all knew each other too well. 

 

They heard the front door close and the inexplicable sound of Harry coming home. The three of them waited for him to appear in the kitchen as well.    
  


“Ginny” he said. They could tell by how frenzied he was that he needed to talk to his wife by herself. His hair was messier than usual, probably due to the fact that he ran his hands through it when he was nervous and his glasses were slightly askew. When he looked at his two sons, silently wishing them to leave the room without asking them James just looked back at him, a mixture of curiosity and concern in his expression. 

 

“Your son was just telling us about his boyfriend” James said, crossing his arms over his chest absently. 

 

“James?”.

 

“No, not me. Albus” he smirked, indicating Albus with a flourish of his hand. 

 

Harry looked between then two of them and then at Ginny before his eyes landed on Albus again. It was obvious that his mind of thinking a mile a minute and he wasn’t able to catch the meaning of the words. “Scorpius, right?” he asked.

 

Albus nodded silently. 

 

“Good, good. Very good. Now please leave your mother and I alone for a moment” he muttered. 

 

The two boys looked at each other and Ginny stood, instead opting to leave the room. 

 

“What’s with them?” James asked once their parents had left the room.

 

“Possible Death Eater resurgence” Albus shrugged. “Long story”.

 

“Resurgence?” he asked, horror overcoming his expression.

 

“Like I said, long story” Albus repeated.

 

“Is Scorpius ok?”.

 

“Yeah, he’s fine”.

 

“There’s something you’re not telling me” James accused.

 

“What makes you think that?” Albus muttered. 

 

“Al, look at me. What is it? Do I need to beat anyone up? I could totally beat someone up. It’s doable”. 

 

“James-”.

 

“Talk to me” he demanded.

 

Albus sighed. He looked around the room as if to check if anyone else was around, even though he knew there wasn’t. He just didn’t want Lily to walk in at the wrong moment. Taking a few steps towards James, Albus took a deep breath to help build his courage. “Some kid told Scorpius that it would be a shame if something were to happen to me or Rose” he explained. “He’s worried about it and everyone seems to think there’s going to be a resurgence”.

 

“Which kid?”.

 

“Goyle’s son”.

 

James sucked in a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh god” he muttered. “They could be right”.

 

“James, I’m worried about Scorpius. He goes to school with a lot of their children. He mentioned something about dealing with bullying really offhandedly and I’m just really worried-”   
  


“We’ll keep an eye on him, don’t worry. Uni’s off until after Christmas. I can help. Everything will be ok, Al. I promise” he reassured.

 

“How do I make it seem like I’m not afraid?” Albus asked, knowing full well that James was definitely the person to ask that question. 

 

James smiled at that. “Now that, is an easy question”.

 

“So what’s the answer?” he pressed.

 

“Be visible”.

 

“Visible?”.

 

“Exactly, if you hide away they’ll think you’re afraid and maybe someone will come after you. If you’re visible it shows that their threats mean nothing to you. You’re basically untouchable anyway, might as well act like it” he shrugged.

 

“You want me to act cocky?” Albus asked, raising an eyebrow questionably. 

 

“Not cocky. Confident”.

 

“I don’t have any of that” he reminded.

 

James laughed. “Al, you just have to  _ pretend  _ that you do”.

 

“I can do that”.

 

“Of course you can” James leaned forward, ruffling his brother’s hair affectionately.

 

“Ugh, why?” Albus asked, batting James’ hand away.

 

“Why not?”.

 

Albus just rolled his eyes at him. “Thanks James” he said.

 

“You need anything you know where to find me, ok?”.

 

He nodded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I've mentioned this a billion times but I love James Sirius Potter and he's a good brother. He really is. I'll see you all next week! <3


	15. Didn’t You Know Love Could Shine This Bright?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know this chapter is early. No, I don't have a reason for it. I just wanted to share because I've been working on this like crazy the past few days and I'm really proud of what I've done. So here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. It has an insanely fluffy ending, so there's that.  
> Chapter title song: Deer In The Headlights by Owl City.

Two days left of school until the Christmas break. The snow was starting to fall over the city and everything was being cloaked in cotton-like white. The temperature was dropping and you could often hear children giggling as they threw snowballs at each other. Albus would enjoy this a lot more if he didn’t have to be so worried about everyone he cared about. Rose was the biggest fan of the holiday season that he knew, aside from his grandmother. She was chatting excitedly about putting up Christmas decorations with her parents when she got home that afternoon as they headed into school. 

 

“I need you to keep a secret for me” Albus interrupted.

 

“A secret?” Rose asked, turning suspicious automatically. “What do you mean?”.

 

“I’m skipping our last class of the day” he muttered, voice a lot quieter considering there were a lot of kids around that could overhear. 

 

“I don’t think I’m even going to ask why” she replied. 

 

“I’m going to meet Scorpius at school and walk him home or something” Albus continued anyway. “I don’t really know how far his house is but I don’t want anyone causing trouble ok? I’m really worried about him”.

  
“I know you are. You have every right to be, Al”.

 

“Just, don’t tell my mum or dad that I’m skipping school ok?” he looked up at her. “I’m trusting you with this”.

 

Rose smirked at him. “You do realise it’s the second last day of school right? It’s hardly worth coming for anyway. Half the people here will be skipping the last class”.

 

“Maybe you should skip too then”.

 

“And tarnish my perfect academic reputation? I don’t think so” she smirked, a hand moving to her chest in mock-shock.

 

“You’re considering it”.

 

“Have fun playing knight in shining armour” she shrugged. 

 

“There is no way I would be a knight” Albus muttered.

 

“Hmm” Rose mused. “Maybe you’d be like the prince and the pauper, but gayer”.

 

“Scorpius would absolutely be a prince” he laughed.

 

“I can see it now. You two in a medieval setting. It’s great” she nudged him, laughing as well.

 

“The moment you start writing fanfiction about my life is the day I doubt your sanity”.

 

“Who said anything about writing?” she beamed. 

 

Albus just rolled his eyes at that. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with you” he said.

 

“Because your loyalty and your love for your family burns through your veins”.

 

“I guess I can’t fault you there” he shrugged.

 

***

 

When Scorpius made his way out of the Hogwarts school gates that afternoon he was more than surprised to see Albus waiting for him. He was running one of his hands through his hair, obviously nervous, the other shoved deep into the pocket of his school pants and he had his leather jacket thrown on. He beamed at Scorpius when he spotted him. Scorpius was struck again by just how beautiful Albus was. A part of him thought that he always would be. He made a beeline for the other boy straight away. He could already feel the eyes of other students on them. He didn’t want to care.

 

“Before you say anything” Albus started, “I’m going to act very unlike myself for the next few minutes and I’ll explain later but I just need you to trust me”.

 

“You know I trust you” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Good” he muttered. Albus bit down on his lip for a second, as if deciding something before tugging on Scorpius’ tie and pulling him into a kiss, wrapping his arms around his neck tightly. Scorpius responded by wrapping his arms around Albus’ waist and pulling him closer. For the next few seconds he forgot about everything in the world that wasn’t Albus. 

 

“I’m not sure how I feel about this version of you” he laughed when Albus pulled away again. 

 

“How do you get home usually?” he asked, nervously fidgeting with the lapels of Scorpius’ blazer. 

 

“It’s about a twenty minute walk to my house” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“Which way?”.

 

“Your right, my left”.

 

Albus nodded and took his hand quickly. “Let’s go then” he muttered, leading him through the large amount of students milling around, probably waiting to get picked up. He managed not to catch anyone’s eye which must have been some sort of monumental feat since he was sure that everyone was staring at them. 

 

“Wait, did you come all the way here just to walk me home?” Scorpius asked. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. A small part of his brain was starting to think about what people would say to him at school the next day. He wanted to silence it. 

 

“Maybe” Albus muttered, looking at the ground and not at him. 

 

Scorpius let go of his hand and threw his arm around Albus’ shoulders, pulling him against his side. “You’re an idiot” he laughed, kissing the top of his head. 

 

“I’m your idiot. I mean, if you want me to be”.

 

“I think I’m quite fond of that idea actually”.

 

Albus beamed up at him and Scorpius couldn’t feel anything but the warm happiness that spread through him. 

 

“Are you going to tell me why you were acting so unlike yourself back there?” Scorpius asked, smirking. They were a good enough distance away from the school now that there wasn’t anyone else around. 

 

“I was talking to James yesterday and I asked him what the best way to appear not afraid would be. I mean, I  _ am  _ scared, I guess, but mostly I’m just worried about you”.

 

“I told you that you don’t have to be worried about me” he reminded.

  
“I know but that doesn’t stop me from feeling it”.

 

Scorpius didn’t say anything to that. He wasn’t sure what he could say. It was obvious this was affecting Albus more than he thought it would. He guessed that he couldn’t blame him for that. He knew he would be just as worried if their positions were reversed. 

 

“Anyway, James said that the easiest way to do that is to be visible. So I thought that if everyone saw us together that might help” Albus shrugged. He seemed to be second guessing showing up at all. “I think really I just wanted an excuse to see you again” he added, much quieter.

 

“Well I can’t say that I mind you showing up and kissing me. It was pretty great actually”.

 

“Really?’.

 

“Would I lie to you, Al?” he laughed.

 

“I hope not”.

 

“Exactly”.

 

Albus smiled at that, he squeezed Scorpius’ side affectionately, happy that it made him laugh. “Will your parents be home?” he asked, suddenly aware that he hadn’t really thought all of this through.

 

“My mum will be. I don’t think my dad will yet” Scorpius shrugged. 

 

“Will she care about …?” Albus trailed off, his free hand indicated the two of them with a flourish. 

 

“No, she won’t. She was really happy when I told her yesterday. I haven’t seen her smile like that in a while”.

 

“I guess that’s a good thing then” Albus smiled.

 

“Oh, she loves you. She asks about you all the time”.

  
“I’m not sure if that’s concerning or not” he laughed.

 

Scorpius shook his head, beaming. “No, it’s really nice actually. She’ll be happy to see you again, I think”.

 

“I guess it’s nice to have her approval”.

 

“I think she likes you almost as much as she likes me” he teased, nudging Albus, gently. 

 

“You’re her son, of course she likes you”.

 

“That’s the joke, Al” he smirked. 

 

“Haha, very funny” Albus rolled his eyes.

 

Scorpius kissed the top of his head again. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there”.

 

***

 

It wasn’t very often these days that Draco went to go and visit his mother. When Lucius died, Narcissa moved a few hours out of the city, into a property that had been previously owned by her sister, Andromeda. Draco knew it was because she wanted to get as far away from the Manor as she could, and he couldn’t really blame her for that. He used to visit quite regularly but since Astoria’s diagnosis it was a rarity for him to be anywhere that wasn’t his workplace or his home. Walking up to the front door, Draco thought that maybe that hadn’t been the best decision he’s ever made. He hadn’t seen his mother in a good few months and even though he wanted to spend as much time with his family as possible, Narcissa was his family too. He almost found himself wishing that she lived near the Manor again. 

 

When she opened the door the first thing he noticed was that she looked incredibly excited to see him again. He’d barely made it through the entryway before she pulled him into a hug. He’d written to her and still called her often enough that she knew why he’d been just a little distant lately. The hug was her way of telling him that she understood. The moment that Narcissa pulled away he saw her expression immediately change to one of worry. It was one that he’d seen so frequently, especially in his youth, that it was almost second nature. It still hurt just as much.

 

“What is it, Draco?” she asked, still holding him by the shoulders.

 

Draco sighed and looked away from her for a moment. “Perhaps we should have some tea” he said. 

 

Narcissa nodded and quickly lead him to the kitchen. The house was more of a small cottage. It felt warm in a way that the Manor somehow never had. She sat him down at her small kitchen table and started making the tea. Since moving she’d done everything herself. There had always been servants at the Manor when Lucius had lived there. It was something that Draco was grateful to end when the house became his. 

 

“There’s something wrong” Narcissa stated, sliding a porcelain tea cup over to Draco and sitting across from him. 

 

Draco admired the green vines that wrapped around the cup before taking a sip. “I guess in some ways I can’t believe I’m saying this” he hesitated, wrapping his hands around the cup and squeezing almost too tightly. He gazed into the dark tea for a moment as if it held all the answers to his problems before looking up at his mother again. “Have you heard anything?” he asked.

 

The look of horror that crossed Narcissa’s face was the only answer that he needed. The weight of his words could only indicate one thing. “What’s happened?” she asked.

 

“Someone threatened one of the Potter boys. Harry’s youngest” he explained. “And his cousin”.

 

“Which one?”. It was almost like a joke, because the Weasleys had always had so many in their family. 

 

“Rose” he answered.

 

“Of course” she sighed. 

 

“Scorpius has become … attached to the two of them” he continued. “He was the one that was approached”.

 

“That’s concerning” she mused.

 

“There’s so many of them at Hogwarts” Draco muttered. “Death Eater children” he added. He’d always been cautious about that, worried even. Astoria always assured him that it would be fine. He just wished that that could be true. 

 

Narcissa nodded. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, tea cup forgotten for the moment. “What are you going to do?” she asked.

 

“I spoke to Harry. And Hermione. The Ministry is very aware. They’re going to patrol former members. I’m not entirely sure what they’re hoping they’ll find”.

 

“They’ll find nothing”.

 

He nodded. “I might have to … immerse myself in that world again” he said, face twisting into one of disgust. Draco had pulled away from the Death Eaters a long time ago. He never had any intention of going back to them, but he had to protect Scorpius. And he guessed that by extension he had to protect Albus and Rose as well. That wasn’t something that he’d planned on either. 

 

“I was afraid you would say that”.

 

“It’s not something that I want to do” he confirmed.

 

“Then put that off as long as possible” she said. “Help from a distance. Tell them what you remember. There’ll be the same patterns”.

 

“I suppose that I hope they find something”. 

 

“I haven’t heard anything” Narcissa muttered, picking up her tea cup again. 

 

“I didn’t think you would have. It was just to be sure” Draco explained.

 

She nodded. “A resurgence” she said, seeming to weigh the words in the silence that formed around them. “I can almost hear how fearful Lucius would have been”. 

 

“He’s not the only one”.

  
“Who made the threats?”.

 

“Goyle’s son”.

 

“Goyle?” she asked, amused. “They must be desperate”.

 

“It seems he must have had room for something in that small brain of his if he managed to pass it on to his son” Draco quipped. 

 

“Must be something that he picked up from you”.

 

Draco couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I suppose so” he replied.

 

Narcissa smiled at him. “There haven’t even been echoes”. 

 

He nodded.

 

“I’ll call if I hear anything”.

 

“Thank you, mother”.

 

“How’s Astoria?”.

 

Draco paused. He looked down at his tea again, studying the intricate vines that curled even within the cup. “I just want her to get better” he said, sounding much more like his teenage self in this moment. 

 

Narcissa reached over and placed her hand over his. “She will be” she said, voice firm.

 

“I hope so”.

 

***

 

The first thing that Albus noticed about Astoria Malfoy was that she was paler and somehow thinner than the last time he saw her. Her clothes seemed to flog her. Her eyes were a little cloudy but her smile was just as bright. He was struck immediately by the fact that she seemed to be getting so much worse. Albus found himself wishing for the opposite. 

 

“Albus, it’s so good to see you again” she smiled at him, pulling him into a hug like she’d done the last time. “Scorpius tells me so much about you” she added.

 

“Does he now?” Albus couldn’t help by smirk over at Scorpius, who ran a hand through his hair and looked away quickly. 

 

“All the time”.

 

“Mum!”.

 

She just smiled, laughing a little. It was just as warm as Albus was hoping it would be. He was a little worried that it would be hollow. 

 

There wasn’t much conversation after that. Just a little bit of small talk and then Scorpius seemed to share a look with his mother and she nodded. Albus thought that this might of been his way of asking to leave. Scorpius took his hand started leading him down a few corridors. 

 

Whatever Albus had expected Scorpius’ house to look like somehow this was different. He knew the house would be big, but he didn’t know that it would be gigantic. He’d overheard a conversation once between his father, his Uncle Ron and his Aunt Hermione about Malfoy Manor. To put it simply, they’d described it as dark and evil-looking. That wasn’t what it looked like now. Whenever there was a window, the curtains were open and the sunlight filtered through the rooms. Where there wasn’t windows there was bright lighting. There was a significant amount of green still present. Albus thought that probably had something to do with Hogwarts Houses (there was quite a lot of red at some of his Uncle’s house) but it didn’t seem dark. It felt like a home. 

 

“I know that she’s getting worse” Scorpius said quietly, breaking the silence that had formed between them. 

 

Albus looked away from the photo on the wall he was observing. It was a picture of Scorpius and his mother when he was little. He looked no older than two. He and Astoria were sitting on a picnic rug in a park. They were both laughing and toddler-Scorpius seemed to be almost squirming in her lap. 

 

“I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you about it” he continued.

 

“You don’t have to tell me everything if you don’t want to” Albus replied. 

 

“I guess, I didn’t want to bother you with it” Scorpius shrugged. He was gazing up at the photo now, his eyes sad. 

 

“You’re never a bother”.

 

He smiled faintly, “That’s nice of you to say”.

 

“Maybe we should talk about it” Albus muttered, not taking his eyes off Scorpius. “It might help you”.

 

“I want to show you something” Scorpius turned to him. “Would that be ok?”.

 

Albus nodded and let Scorpius take his hand again and lead him down the corridor.

 

“You’re probably going to laugh”.

  
“Well, now I’m worried” Albus smirked.

 

Scorpius looked back at him, beaming. “Dork” he said, affection lacing his tone.

 

“Nerd”. 

 

Scorpius laughed, stopping in front of two large double doors. They were white and accented with gold.

 

“If this is your bedroom, I swear -”.

 

“It’s not my room” Scorpius smirked. “It’s my favourite room in this house though. Or any house, really”.

 

Albus knew what the room would be, but it still shocked him when Scorpius opened one of the doors and lead him inside. Of course it would be a library. He’d heard Scorpius mention it a few times. He always talked about it like books put the stars in the sky. Albus thought that maybe they might have. There were bookcases made of dark wood lining every single wall and reaching up to the ceiling. They were so tall that you’d need a ladder to reach the top shelves. Albus quickly spotted one in one corner of the room. One of the ones that slide along the shelves like in a movie. The room was two levels. There was a lower level with leather furniture and a fireplace at one end that was lit. Albus could hear the crackling of the wood from where he was standing. Then there was an upper level where the majority of the bookshelves were. It sort of reminded him of Beauty and the Beast in a way. 

 

“Of course this is your favourite room”.

 

Scorpius just smiled at that, tugging on his hand gently to lead Albus further into the room. “I think that this might sound stupid” he started, “but I’ve always wanted to kiss someone in here. Someone that I care about”.

 

Albus saw something flash in Scorpius’ eyes. Something that they never really touched on in conversation.  _ Feelings _ . “That is absolutely the nerdiest thing you have ever said to me” he said. 

 

“Shut up”.

 

Albus couldn’t help laughing at that. He ended up laughing so much that he needed to pull away when Scorpius tried to kiss him. The look on Scorpius face was only making it worse. He just looked dumbfounded. 

 

“Why can’t you help make my dreams come true, Albus?” he joked.

 

That just set Albus off even more. The pure innocence of it. He was practically doubled over now. 

 

Scorpius couldn’t help but smile, “I’m not sure if I should be offended or not”.

 

Albus clasped his hand over his mouth and straightened up again, trying to stop himself from laughing. “I’m sorry” he managed, calming himself down. “You’re wonderful. I hope you know that”.

 

“You’re quite wonderful too, you know”. Scorpius pulled on Albus’ leather jacket absently. Albus stepped closer to him and he found that he liked that better. “I think this is my favourite item of clothing I’ve ever seen you wear” he said. 

 

“Really?” Albus asked. “Maybe I’ll wear on Saturday then” he shrugged.

 

“Do you even own any other jackets?”.

 

“I’ll have you know that I own about a thousand hoodies”.

 

“Maybe I’ll steal one” Scorpius smirked. 

 

Albus was suddenly distracted by the thought of Scorpius in one of his hoodies. The thought of that was almost too adorable for words. He twisted his hand in Scorpius’ tie absently. “Maybe I’ll let you” he said.

 

“What is with your obsession with my tie?”.

 

“You’re too tall” Albus shrugged. “It’s for leverage”. He demonstrated what he he meant by pulling Scorpius into a kiss easily. Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus’ waist and pulled him closer. 

 

“Maybe I’ll wear a tie on Saturday then” he smirked.

 

“God, please don’t wear a tie. My family will never let me forget it if you do”.

 

Scorpius laughed and kissed Albus’ forehead. “No tie then” he said. “Are you nervous?” he asked.

 

“For Saturday?”.

 

“Yeah”.

 

“I guess I am” Albus shrugged. “I mean, I’m nervous for everyone to meet you”.

 

“Well, I’m nervous to meet everyone. What if they don’t like me?” Scorpius asked.

 

“Oh, they’ll love you. I think they already do by default because I - I’m quite fond of you” Albus muttered, looking down. 

  
Scorpius titled Albus’ chin again so he could see his eyes. Green was definitely his favourite colour. “I’m quite fond of you too” he said. He was acutely aware that his cheeks were most likely pink, but at least Albus’ were as well. That made him feel a bit better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will probably still go up on Sunday. It's ready so there's no reason for me not to post it. I appreciate it if you're reading this. Especially if you've stuck with this the whole time.   
> I'll see you all on Sunday <3


	16. We Are Diamonds Taking Shape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On this beautiful Sunday morning (or Saturday night, time zones are weird) I present you all with the new chapter. Incoming Potter family fluff. I love domesticity.  
> Chapter title song: Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay.

Albus was seated at the kitchen table next to his sister. Lily was trying to demonstrate a card trick that one of her friends had taught her. It was obviously that she’d never quite learned it in its entirety. She kept forgetting the second half. Harry and Ginny were having their own conversation as Harry made breakfast. Ginny was sitting on the kitchen counter next to the stove, one hand wrapped around her mug of tea and the other on her husband’s shoulder. It was all very domestic. Albus was kind of fond of it all. Lily huffed, dropped the cards in her hand, watching as they feel to the table and moodily dropping her head into her hands.

 

“I’ll never get it” she muttered, voice muffled by her hands. She spread her fingers and stared down at the cards through the gaps.

 

Albus knew that if there was any moment he absolutely could not laugh this would be it. “You just need to keep practicing” he offered. 

 

“I  _ have  _ been practicing” she reminded him, dropping her hands and looking up at him.

 

“And you need to keep it up”.

 

She just glared at him in response. 

 

“What? That’s the only advice I can give you” he shrugged.

 

“I don’t know why I even asked” she replied.

 

“Good morning, Potters!” James announced from the doorway. He was already dressed in blue jeans and an old and faded Pokemon shirt but had his grey dressing gown thrown on top. He looked ridiculous. “Can you believe that today is the day?” he asked, coming to stand behind Albus and placing his hands on his shoulders. 

 

Albus knew where this was going. Lily didn’t seem to catch on. 

 

“What day?” she asked.

 

“Why it’s Saturday, my dear sister” he beamed, leaning over to boop her nose which she scrunched up immediately. He had the attention of everyone in the room now, including their parents. “Today is the day that we discover whether the boy who’s stolen our dear Alby’s heart is his rightful suitor” he continued.

 

“Remember when you tried out for the school play and even Miss Trelawny said that you were too overly dramatic?” Albus asked, his tone completely flat. “You might want to take her advice and tone it down”. 

 

James just rolled his eyes, moving to sit at the table instead. “All I’m saying is that it’s a big day” he defended.

 

“Maybe you should stop talking altogether, James. You’re making him nervous” Lily teased, nudging Albus with her elbow. 

 

“I’m not nervous!”.

 

“You absolutely are nervous” she laughed. 

 

“Why is it” James smirked, leaning towards him, “that Saturday's always seem to correspond to make the best days of your life?’.

 

“I think at this point I would consider this the worst day of my life” he replied.

 

“Maybe pancakes will help” Harry smiled, giving Albus the first plate.

 

“As your first born, I’m offended” James said, placing a hand to his chest dramatically. 

 

Harry rolled his eyes at him, handing him a plate as Ginny handed one to Lily. “There” he said.

 

“Much better”.

 

Albus felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and scrambled for it, pointedly ignoring the fact that James had almost choked on his pancakes because he’s laughing at him. 

 

Scorpius:  _ ‘Please tell me you’re as nervous as I am’ _

 

_ ‘Yeah, I want to apologise in advance for whatever you witness today’  _ he sent back.

 

“You shouldn’t be laughing, James. Remember when you went on that date with that girl when you were fourteen and then spent the next two weeks repeating her name under your breath” Lily smirked.

 

“Do  _ not  _ bring her into this” James retorted pointing his fork at her. 

 

Scorpius:  _ “Albus, you’re not helping :S’ _

 

_ ‘I hope you still like me after today’ _

 

“Remember when she dumped you after not talking to your for those weeks because I do and it was absolutely glorious” Lily continued. She looked way too smug and when James just glared at her in response she knew that she’d won. She nudged Albus with her elbow and offered him a reassuring smile. 

 

Albus returned the smile easily, dropping his phone onto the table and continuing to pick at his pancakes. There were both blueberries  _ and  _ strawberries present. Basically, his dad was a legend. 

 

“James, try not to embarrass your brother today” Ginny said, her eyes flicking between her three children. 

 

“Why are you asking me to do that and not Lily?”.

 

“Because I’m actually civil” Lily beamed at him, shoving some of her pancakes into her mouth.

 

James huffed and stabbed at his with his fork. 

 

Albus’ phone vibrated again and he tried to ignore the eyes of everyone on him. 

 

Scorpius:  _ ‘You’re in luck. I could never not like you ;)’ _

 

It didn’t help that he was blushing. 

 

***

 

Rose was always the first to arrive whenever they held their Saturdays at the Potter house. She would always be incredibly eager to help with anything that was needed. This included, of course, helping Ginny and Harry set up the table outside. The Potter house had a back porch that was very convenient when it was snowing and you wanted to gather a group of people. It wasn’t too cold today but the garden was caked in white and the small amount of sunlight peaking through the clouds made it sparkle. Rose had always been in love with snow. James and Lily had already started their annual tradition of building a snowman before Hugo got there to make him jealous (they’d just build another with him anyway). 

 

Albus was so jittery that it was almost laughable. He was trying his best to help but he kept dropping things and Ginny finally convinced him that maybe he should sit this one out. So now he was standing and leaning against the back wall of the house watching everyone else and pulling on the strings of his purple hoodie absently. It was probably the only item of clothing that he owned that wasn’t either white, grey or black and that’s because Rose bought it for him. 

 

“If you’re that worried then go and put the leather jacket on” Rose smiled, walking over and standing next to him. 

 

“Isn’t there a rule about wearing the same clothing too much on dates or something?” he muttered, trying not to blush. 

 

“I mean probably but didn’t you say that Scorpius likes you in leather?”.

 

“Apparently”.

 

“Are you really this nervous?” she asked, nudging him with her elbow gently and leaning into him.

 

“I don’t know why, but yes” he replied. “I mean, what if he doesn’t get along with everyone?”.

 

“As someone who has met Scorpius I think that will be absolutely impossible. He’s an angel”.

 

“He’s still a Malfoy. What if someone -”.

 

“Hey” Rose put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re talking yourself into a panic. No one cares what family he comes from. Or what his gender is. Or anything like that. I promise”.

“I really like him” he said. “I guess I didn’t realise what that would feel like”.

 

“The good thing is”, she smiled, “he really likes you too”.

 

He couldn’t help smiling at that. “Yeah” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. “It’s nice, I guess”.

 

“You guess? Al, it’s wonderful”.

 

The back door opened and Hermione, Ron and Hugo came through. Both Hermione and Ron had a key to the house in case of emergencies so whenever they had Saturdays over at the Potters they would just let themselves in. Ron made a beeline straight for Harry to envelope him in a hug. They’d always been pretty affectionate with each other. Hermione made her way over to them, prying Ron off Harry in order to give him a hug and then making her way over to Ginny, hugging her as well. 

 

“You started without me!?” Hugo called, running straight over to James and Lily who were in a fit of laughter. 

 

“Oh no! Our plan to build the ultimate snowman army  _ without Hugo  _ is ruined!” James yelled. Lily was doubled over with laughter and Albus thought that she might collapse into the snow soon. 

 

“We have to make another one!” Hugo replied. “I can’t believe you did this again!”.

 

Albus shook his head at the scene and Rose had a hand clamped over her mouth to try and hide her laughter.

 

“I can’t even feel sorry for him” she said, beaming. 

 

“Can you believe that this happens every year?” Albus turned to her. 

 

“Without fail. It’s like tradition”.

 

“A tradition of exclusion”.

 

Rose laughed at that. “I guess so”

 

Hermione was making her way over to them, smiling. She wrapped Albus up in a hug. “Is Scorpius coming?” she asked, looking at him.

 

“Um, yeah” he shrugged.

 

“Good”.

 

“Aunt Hermione” Albus muttered, trying to find the best way to phrase his question. 

 

“Yes?” she prompted when he hesitated. There was worry making its way across her expression.

 

“Um, does it both you that he’s, um -”.

 

“A boy?” she asked. “Of course not”.

 

“No, not that” Albus looked down, avoiding her eyes.

 

Hermione looked over at Rose, the two of them sharing a silent exchange. “A Malfoy?” she asked, looking back at Albus. Her voice was much quieter, gentle even.

 

Albus was running a hand through his hair. It was a clear sign that he was just a little uncomfortable with it all and that he regretted the question. “Yeah”.

 

“Albus” Hermione said, putting her hands on his shoulders and prompting him to look up at her. “All of that was a long time ago now. People can grow and change and nothing is the same forever” she reassured.

 

“I know that but I know that a lot happened -”.

 

“None of it matters now. Everything’s ok”.

 

Albus nodded, a smile sneaking its way onto his face. “Thanks” he said.

 

She nodded and headed back over to where the other adults were.

 

“Well, I hope that reassured you” Rose smiled at him.

 

“It did” he muttered. “I don’t know why I’m so worried about it”.

 

“I guess in some ways I can understand” she shrugged. 

 

Albus’ phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out quickly. 

 

Scorpius:  _ ‘I’m not sure if I should ring your doorbell or not so I’ll just wait here’ _

 

“He here?” Rose asked, her smile easily turning into a smirk.

 

“Yeah, he’s here”.

 

“No one else is inside so you two will be able to make out before he meets everyone”.

 

“Shut up, Rose” he groaned, heading back towards the door. He could hear her giggling behind him as he did so. 

 

***

 

Albus wrenched the front door open and couldn’t help but smile when he saw Scorpius on the other side. Scorpius shoved his phone back into his pocket quickly and beamed at him in return.

 

“Hey” he said.

 

“Hey” Albus replied.

 

“So this is your house”.

 

“Yep. Not as big as yours” he shrugged.

 

“No, I love it” Scorpius laughed.

 

“Um, you can come in” Albus muttered, stepping aside quickly.

 

“Oh right”. Scorpius came to stand beside him, gazing around quickly as Albus closed the door behind him. “I love it” he repeated.

 

“I guess it’s nice. I’m so used to it”.

 

“I get that”.

 

Albus bit down on his lip and watched as Scorpius looked around the room silently. His eyes widened when Scorpius took a few steps towards the wall and Albus realised what he was looking at. “Um, you don’t have to worry about those” he muttered. There was a long line of family photos that he parents had put up. The first one was their wedding photo, then baby James and so on.

 

“I actually really love family photos” Scorpius said, making his way along the wall and stopping in front of a picture of baby Albus and toddler James. “It’s like a still of a perfect moment”.

 

Albus didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t deny it because of course Scorpius was right. It was impossible to think of a situation where Scorpius wouldn’t be right. ”That’s an interesting way to look at things” he said.

“It’s all about perspective”. Scorpius took a step sideways and gazed at the next picture. It was a picture of toddler Albus with his father. Harry was laughing as Albus pulled at his glasses curiously. Scorpius couldn’t help beaming over at Albus. 

 

“Apparently I used to do that a lot. And I used to pull on my mum’s hair” he shrugged, looking at the ground.

 

“You look like him a lot. Your dad, I mean. You have his eyes”.

 

“I get that a lot”.

 

Scorpius turned to him, smiling. “Don’t worry though, you’re much cuter”.

 

“I’m glad you think I’m more attractive than my father” Albus smirked.

 

“That sounded a lot more flirtatious in my head” he muttered.

 

He laughed and took a step closer to him. “You look really good today. you know”.

 

Scorpius looked down at his white sweater and blue jeans and then back up at Albus. “Who knew that purple would be such a good colour on you” he replied.

 

Albus blushed. “Rose bought it for me”.

 

“I’ll have to thank her”.

 

“I’m going to kiss you now” Albus muttered, pulling on the front of Scorpius’ sweater gently.

 

“Finally” he smirked, pulling Albus in by his waist. 

 

They were so very close when Rose burst in through the back door. 

 

“Ok, so I know I said you guys could make out but Al your mum noticed that you disappeared and I said you went to answer the door so I figured you’d want a warning just in case she comes to find you or something!” she called, quickly materialising in the doorway to the living room. “I know I’m interrupting. Sorry” she apologised.

 

Albus kissed Scorpius quickly anyway and then pulled away, taking his hand instead. “You ready?” he asked.

 

Scorpius shrugged, suddenly a little stiff. “I hope they like me” he replied.

 

“They’re going to love you” Rose beamed. “Also, where’s my hug?”.

 

“Oh right” he laughs, pulling away from Albus and wrapping Rose into a hug. “It’s good to see you again”.

  
“You too. Come on, everyone’s waiting”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep seeing posts about how Harry's "you look like your father" comments would drop off eventually, since he would be older than James had the chance to be. But it's ok, because Albus is physically his spitting image so the comments just get passed on. I think that's a nice thought.   
> I love you all. See you next week!


	17. Explosions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm nervous about posting this chapter because it's probably risky and I'm not sure how you'll all take to it but this is the direction that this is going in for the moment. Enjoy some Potter family banter and Potter family drama in equal measure.  
> Chapter Title song: Explosions by Ellie Goulding

This had to be the absolute most nerve wracking thing that Albus had ever done in his entire life. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt that way but up until now, Scorpius had been someone that was just entirely his and maybe he was worried about what happened when he wasn’t anymore. He knew that everyone was going to love Scorpius. It would be absolutely impossible for anyone not to love Scorpius. He was perfect. Rose winked at him before she disappeared out the door and Albus stopped walking.

 

“Are you ok?” Scorpius turned to him, tugging on his hand gently.

 

“I’ve never introduced my family to a boy before” he muttered, looking up at him and meeting his eyes. He’s never introduced  _ anyone  _ to his family before. 

 

Scorpius smiled at that. “I’m honoured,” he said.

  
Albus returned his smile and quickly pressed his lips to Scorpius’ before pulling away again. “Ok, I can do this.”

 

“You’re adorable.”

 

Albus took a deep breath and pushed the back door open. Lily seems to have tackled Hugo at some point because now the two of them are squabbling in the snow and Albus would be concerned if he couldn’t hear the giggles escaping the two of them. Rose is helping Hermione set up the table while keeping up a conversation with Harry as he cooks. Ginny and Ron seem to be in some kind of heated debate. Albus knows it’s about sports without asking. James is the first to notice them. He’s working on the second snowman when he looks up and spots them easily. 

 

“Love interest, ahoy!” he calls, pointing at them. Lily and Hugo jump up immediately, brushing the snow off themselves. 

 

The adults look up as well and suddenly Albus second guesses himself. Maybe he should just disappear into the snow below him. That would probably be preferable at the moment. Scorpius squeezed his hand and that made the moment bearable. Lily ran running over to them, trying desperately not to trip in the snow. James had his arm around Hugo, leading him towards them. Albus isn’t sure what they’re talking about but he knows James is making some silly romance analogy or something. It helped when Rose moves to stand next to them again. She smiled at him reassuringly and he smiled back. 

 

“Welcome to the worst day of your life,” she looked at Scorpius, smirking. She just laughed when he looks at her in complete horror. “I’m joking,” she pushed his shoulder playfully. “It’s fine.”

 

Lily finally reached them. She stopped in front of Scorpius and put her hands on her hips. “So you’re Scorpius,” she said.

 

Even though she’s shorter than him, Scorpius automatically felt like he’s being stared down. “That’s me,” he muttered, unsure what to say really. 

 

Lily cocked her head to the side, as if she’s studying him and that only made him feel worse. She moved so she had her arms crossed over her chest. “Are you sure you want to date, Albus? You’re actually attractive.”

 

“Lily!” Albus spluttered, pulling away from Scorpius and crossing his arms over his chest angrily. Scorpius could really see the resemblance between them now, even though the only thing they really have in common is the freckles. Rose was biting down hard on her lip and trying to stop herself from laughing. She’d be succeeding if it weren’t for her shoulders shaking and giving her away. 

 

“You might not want to hear this considering he’s your brother, but I actually find Albus to be incredibly attractive,” Scorpius replied easily. He could see Albus start blushing out of the corner of his eye and beamed.  _ Dork _ , he thought.

 

A wide smile spread across Lily’s face. “I like you,” she said. “You’re good for him,” she kicked Albus’ foot and winked at him. Albus just rolled his eyes in return. 

 

“Alright, alright my turn!” James cut in. He offered Scorpius his hand politely. “I’m James,” he said as Scorpius took his hand. “I want you to have a good look at my face because if you hurt my brother it’ll be the last face you see.”

 

“Oh my god!” Rose all but shrieked, finally succumbing to her fit of laughter. 

 

Lily was looking over at James with a mixture of shock and pride. “Savage,” she praised.

 

“If I hurt your brother then I think I’d deserve that,” Scorpius said, letting go of James’ hand and taking a step back. Albus was very steadily turning into a tomato next to him and he was trying to pretend like it’s not the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. 

 

“I second Lily’s statement from earlier. I like you as well,” James beamed at him.

  
“Noted.”

 

“I’m Hugo,” Hugo shrugged. “Rose’s brother. I think I’m indifferent towards you at the moment.”

 

“Can’t blame you,” Scorpius muttered.

 

“Have you ever played Betrayal Of The House On The Hill, Scorpius?” James asked.

 

Albus groaned but didn’t say anything. 

 

“No, I don’t think I have,” Scorpius replied, eyes flicking between the two Potter boys. They both had Harry’s hair but James had his mother’s eyes instead. It somehow made an incredible difference between the two of them. 

 

“Seriously? Well, we’ll have to do that later. But first,” he looked between Lily and Hugo, smirking at them, “our snowmen army is not yet finished.”

 

“Yes!” Lily laughed, punching her fist in the air and running back towards their snowmen with Hugo trailing behind her. 

 

“Well, that was something” Rose said, nudging Albus with her elbow gently. 

 

“Something is definitely the word for it.”

 

Ginny was slowly making her way over with Hermione. Ron seemed to have started the sports debate with Harry next. Albus wasn’t sure if it’s his way of trying to avoid the situation. He wished that he was as crafty as that. Ginny and Hermione smiled at them. Albus somehow felt even more nervous. 

 

“Scorpius” Ginny greeted.

 

“Mrs. Potter,” he replied, offering her his hand. 

 

Ginny took his hand and then used it to pull him into a hug. “You can call me Ginny, Scorpius,” she said. 

 

Scorpius seemed shocked for a moment but then he sunk into the hug. There’s a acute difference between normal hugs and mum hugs. Considering how sick Astoria was becoming, Albus wasn’t all that surprised that a mum hug caught Scorpius off-guard.

 

When Ginny pulls away she rested her hands on Scorpius’ shoulders for a moment. “Any trouble?” she asked.

 

Scorpius shook his head. “They keep glaring at me but they haven’t spoken to me since,” he answered. 

 

Ginny nodded, offering him another smile and then let him go.

 

“It’s nice to see you again, Scorpius,” Hermione said.

 

“You too.”

 

“I’m glad it’s under better circumstances.” Hermione looked over at Albus and smirked. “Feeling better, now?”

 

Albus looked at the ground and pulled a hand through his hair. “Yeah,” he muttered.

 

“Good.”

 

They exchange a few more moments of small talk. Ginny asked how Scorpius’ parents were and he talks about his mum’s illness and how he really hoped that she pulled through. Both Ginny and Hermione reassured him that she would. He hoped that they were right. Eventually, Harry called Ginny back over. Hermione followed her after offering the two of them one more reassuring smile. James, Lily and Hugo seemed to sense that the food is ready and started heading over. Scorpius looked over at Albus and was suddenly aware that the nervous feeling in his stomach hasn’t subsided.

 

“What if your dad doesn’t like me?”

 

Albus just smiled at him. The sunlight was lighting up his eyes like emeralds and Scorpius was reminded again just how gorgeous he was. “He’ll like you,” he said, offering Scorpius his hand. 

 

Scorpius took it and nodded, “Are you sure we’re allowed to do this?”

 

“Hold hands?” he asked, smirking. “Even if we weren’t I’d do it anyway.”

 

Scorpius laughed and let Albus lead him over to everyone else. 

 

“ - stakes are too low. They have no chance of winning this season,” Ron was saying.

 

Harry was shaking his head slowly, obviously disagreeing. “The stakes being low is exactly what they need to motivate them. No one will expect it,” he replied.

 

“Dad” Albus interrupted, squeezing Scorpius’ hand when he heard him take a deep breath.

 

Harry looked over at his son for a moment, then his eyes land on Scorpius and he did what Scorpius wasn’t expecting him to do at all, not that he knew what that was. He smiled. “I’m glad you could make it, Scorpius,” Harry said, and then he turned back to the debate he was having with Ron.

 

Ginny came around and started giving out plates and suddenly everyone was scrambling for food. 

 

Scorpius tugged on Albus’ hoodie, gaining the other boy’s attention.

 

“You ok?”

 

“Is that it?” Scorpius asked.

 

Albus looked at him for a moment, confusion overcoming his expression. “What do you mean?”

 

“I don’t know … I just was expecting more somehow?”

 

Albus beamed up at him and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You’re adorable,” he said.

 

“Ew! Mum, can you tell Albus not to make out with his boyfriend at lunch!” Lily smirked, pointing her fork at the two of them as she sat down between Hugo and James. 

 

“We’re not making out!” Albus protested automatically, cheeks already heating up.

 

Ginny locked eyes with her husband and they shared an eyeroll. 

 

“Here we go,” Harry said under his breath.

 

“Maybe just keep your affection to yourself,” Lily replied.

 

“Lily, that’s homophobic!”

 

“No, I don’t mean in that way. I mean, cause it’s weird. Because you’re my brother. It’s weird!”

 

Rose tugged on the sleeve of Scorpius’ sweater gently. “Come on, they might go on for a while,” she whispered and led him over to the table. 

 

“Should I be worried?” he asked her.

 

“You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

  
“Um, yes?”

 

Rose smiled at him. “Don’t worry, this is normal,” she reassured, patting his shoulder gently before taking the seat next to him. “It’s not serious. Lily’s just joking.”

 

“Why is it weird, Lily? You’ve seen James do worse! Bloody hell, you’ve seen  _ mum and dad  _ do worse!”

 

“Alright, everyone sit down!” Ginny called. “You two, break it up.”

 

Albus and Lily glared at each other for a moment but then Albus moved to sit between Scorpius and Rose, leaning against Scorpius for the briefest second. “Sorry” he apologised.

 

“No, it was fascinating. Really,” he smirked.

 

“You’re horrible.”

 

“Albus, I was just joking,” Lily said, looking over at her brother.

 

“I know.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

There was a lull at the table for a few minutes. James struck up a conversation with Hugo about how great he was going at uni, even if he wasn’t actually doing all that great. Eventually it switched a tv show that Lily had been binge watching recently. The adults were having their own conversation up the other end of the table. Albus thought it was probably something to do with work. It couldn’t be about sports anymore since they were being very quiet. Rose asked Scorpius a scattered amount of questions about a few books so that there was conversation happening for them as well. Albus was just content to get lost in the lull of things. 

 

***

 

“So, Scorpius,” James said eventually, pointing his fork over at the other boy across the table. It was a gesture that he and Lily shared. 

 

Scorpius looked up at him. He wasn’t sure why but he was finding himself to be a little intimidated by James. He knew that Albus can tell because he hooked their ankles together under the table. “Yes?”

 

“What do you do?”

 

Scorpius didn’t really know how to answer that. “What do you mean?”

 

“You know, what do you  _ do _ ?” James repeated, as if it suddenly made more sense.

 

He’s not sure if James meant what Scorpius did about life in general, in which case he would have literally no answer. He looked at Albus instead, as if he would know. Albus smiles at him, as if he could read his mind and turned to look at James.

 

“Well, Scorpius plays piano,” he said.. 

 

A fire seemed to spark in James’ eyes and Scorpius had no idea what that meant but it probably wasn’t good. Considering Albus and Rose both went to his recital a while ago he figured that their family would already know that. Maybe it was just the first thing that Albus thought of. He couldn’t blame him if that was the case. 

 

“Piano, huh?” James smirked at him. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How long have you been playing?”

 

“Since I was a little.”

 

“Must be good with your hands then.”

 

Lily almost choked on her water. Hugo was gazing up at James as if he was absolutely horrified. Albus pulled away from Scorpius and stared down at the table. Rose was glaring at James like she might be planning his murder. 

 

“Pianists have long fingers, you know.”

 

“James, shut up,” Rose warned, voice low and dangerous. 

 

“At least that’s what I’ve been told anyway.”

 

Their end of the table went completely silent. Even if Albus can feel Scorpius’ eyes on him he couldn’t bring himself to look up at him right now.

 

“You’re a right wanker, you know that,” Rose said.

 

“Yeah, James that wasn’t very nice,” Lily muttered. 

 

“It was just a joke” James shrugged, non-committedly.

 

“I haven’t told him yet,” Albus said, looking up at James. There was a weight to the words that Scorpius didn’t understand. Everyone else seemed to though. 

 

“Really? Al, you should probably sort that out,” he replied, his expression turning concerned.

 

“Like you’re one to talk,” he muttered. Albus made to push away from the table but Rose landed a hand on his shoulder for a moment to hold him there. 

 

“You wear a ring, Al. It’s kind of obvious don’t you think.”

  
“James, you’re my cousin. Don’t make me hit you,” Rose piped up again. 

 

“If Rose hits you then I have to hit you too,” Hugo added.

 

Scorpius was looking between them all. He was awfully confused at why everyone was being so defensive. If Albus was keeping something from him then it must have been for a good reason. “Are you ok?” he asked. 

 

Albus looked up at him like he forgot that Scorpius was next to him. And then his eyes turned really sad. “I’m ok” he said. His voice wavered just slightly. The adults were looking at them all now, having sensed the change in mood. 

 

Scorpius looked passed him and at Rose but she was too busy focusing on Albus. “Do you want me to leave?” he muttered.

 

Albus shook his head and looked away from him. “Right now, I’m the one that needs to leave.” He stood up from the table and started heading back towards his house, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. 

 

Rose sighed, drawing his attention to her. Lily had started yelling something awful at James, Hugo was nodding along and backing her up for every point. 

 

“It’s his secret, James! If he wants it to be his secret then he’s allowed for it to be!” she was saying. She’d jumped up in her seat so that she was taller than him, leaning over him and looking down. 

 

The adults were looking at each other as if they were trying to figure out what to do with the situation. Eventually Ginny stood up and makes her way over, quickly pulling Lily off to the side and talking to her in a quiet voice. Harry sighed and did the same with James. Hermione and Ron came over and sat next to Hugo on both sides. 

 

“Rose, go,” Hermione said, nodding towards the house. 

 

Rose nodded back and turned to Scorpius. “You haven’t seen Albus upset yet, have you?” she asked. “Not really?”

 

“Not really. I don’t think.”

 

“Come on” she said, standing up and waiting for him to do the same. She linked her arm through his and led him back towards the Potter house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this was subtle. I'm curious if anyone's going to catch on.  
> Alas, I'll leave you with another cliffhanger and I'll see you all next week!  
> Feel free to pester me on Tumblr. I'm over at revolution-freewill if you have any thoughts.


	18. I’m The Satellite (And You’re The Sky)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I can't hold onto this chapter any longer. This is most important chapter I've ever written, at least to me as a human being that exists in this world in its current climate. To all of you that guessed Albus was ace, you're right. I'm sure you realise what this chapter consists of. I'm not sure if I'll get another chapter up on Sunday and if I don't I'll just post next week's chapter early too when it comes to that. I genuinely just can't wait to post this. I'm nervous and excited. I hope you all like it.  
> Chapter Title Song: Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

If there’s one thing that Albus hates, it’s crying. At least, he hates crying in front of other people, especially people that he cares about. He knows that it makes them upset too, and he doesn’t like the people he loves being upset. He also hates crying about  _ this _ . This one thing in particular that he always finds some reason to stress over, even if it’s irrational (at least, that’s what Rose keeps telling him). He knows it’s irrational, but he’s never been good at stopping his thoughts like that. When Rose walks into the living room he lets her pull him into an easy hug and buries his head against her shoulder. He automatically feels a little better. 

 

“You worry too much, you know” she says, voice gentle.

 

“I know”.

 

“Whatever your brain is telling you, it’s not real. I promise” she reassures.

 

“Thank you” he mutters. 

 

“He’s not going anywhere, Al” she adds, much quieter. 

 

Sometimes Albus forgets that Rose can pretty much read his mind. He pulls away and looks up at her. She’s smiling at him and it makes him feel a lot better. He didn’t notice Scorpius hovering in the doorway until then. Their eyes meet and Albus’ instinct, as always, is just to kiss him. He’s not sure where that comes from. 

 

“Are you ok?” Scorpius asks, taking a hesitant step into the room. 

 

Albus nods. He feels Rose give him a little push and then he crosses the room. He pauses in front of Scorpius for a moment. They have a silent exchange. 

 

_ Do you need a hug? _

 

_ Yes. _

 

_ Come here, dork. _

 

Albus all but falls against him. He suddenly feels incredibly safe. He knows how dangerous that is. He notices Rose leave the room out of the corner of his eye. She was obviously giving them a moment. He’d have to thank her later. 

 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s ok” Scorpius says, pulling away. He kisses Albus on the forehead gently.

 

Albus thinks he might be melting. “I’m keeping something from you, but I’m not ready to tell you yet”.

 

Scorpius shrugs. “That’ ok” he smiles.

 

“You’re not angry?”.

 

“Should I be?”.

 

_ I love you _ . 

 

***

 

Christmas shopping is going to be an absolute disaster this year and Albus knows it.There’s only two weeks left and he knows that he waited too long before he even started  _ thinking  _ about presents so the fact that he was just now intending to buy them is a little horrifying. Rose and Lily both opted to come with him for moral support since both of them already knew what their presents would be (because they’d ask for very specific things) so it wasn’t spoiling anything. Rose had already finished all her Christmas shopping and Lily only had their parents left to buy for so really it was just Albus who was stressing over what presents to get. Well, one present in particular.

 

“I don’t think he’d really mind what you give him” Rose shrugged, as the three of them made their way through the crowds of other shoppers. 

 

“I think he’ll be happy if you get him anything at all. You really haven’t been together all that long” Lily reminded.

 

“I know but it’s  _ Scorpius _ . I have to get him something” Albus replied. “I just have no idea what”.

 

“Do you have no idea because you’ve recently discovered that you know nothing about him and your entire relationship is built on lies and deceit or do you genuinely not know?” Lily teased, smirking and nudging Albus fondly.

 

“Trying to turn my life into a romantic comedy isn’t helping” he groaned. 

 

“Ok, well what do you know about him then. What does he like?” Rose asked, hoping to prompt something in Albus’ memory. He was probably one of the worst gift planners in the world but he always thought of something eventually. 

 

“Books, piano -”.

 

“Albus Potter” Lily interrupted, giggling when her brother just glared at her.

  
“Is there a book that he wants?”.

 

“I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s mentioned anything” he muttered.

 

“Not even in cryptic hints?”.

 

“Maybe he doesn’t think you’re getting him anything” Lily suggested. “How awkward would it be if one of you got something and the other didn’t?”.

 

“I actually hate you”.

 

“I love you too, big brother” she beamed up at him. 

 

“Let’s try a different route then. What’s his favourite colour?”.

 

“Green” he answered.

 

Rose smirked, raising her eyebrows slightly. “Well of course it is”.

 

“Shut up. Neither of you are really helping”.

 

“And you’re not helping yourself either”.

 

Albus sighed. Of course Rose was right. “Sorry” he apologised. 

 

“Don’t worry, Al. Love has only made you a  _ little  _ stupider than usual” Lily teased.

 

“Lily” Rose chastised, but she couldn’t help smiling, just a little. 

 

Albus ran a hand through his hair and tried desperately to think of  _ something _ . 

 

“Oh!” Rose said next to him, stopping in place. The few people walking behind them gave them a dirty look as the were forced to move around them. “I’ve got an idea”.

 

“Really? Oh, this is so exciting” Lily beamed, clapping her hands together. 

 

“Green. Piano. Books” she muttered to herself. “I can absolutely work with that”.

 

Albus had never been more relieved in his life. 

 

***

 

With Rose and Lily’s help Christmas shopping didn’t take nearly as long as Albus thought it would and they even made it home for dinner. Rose left straight after with an excuse that she didn’t want anyone’s surprise presents to be spoiled. This was aimed at James who always had a crafty way of trying to convince people to tell him what they got for him. After Lily and James had both disappeared upstairs Albus grabbed Scorpius’ present and went to show it to his parents. He needed the reassurance that he’d gotten the right thing, even if Rose and Lily were completely sure. 

 

“I got Scorpius’ present” he said, hovering in the doorway to the living room. 

 

Harry and Ginny were flicking through channels absently. There wasn’t too much on that somehow wasn’t vaguely related to Christmas in some way. Ginny stood when he entered, moving over to him. 

 

“What did you get?” she asked, smiling at him. 

 

“I can’t really take credit for this. It was Rose’s idea” he explained. Harry came to stand beside his wife while Albus pulled the small box from the pocket of his hoodie. He cracked it open and showed his parents what was inside. 

 

“Oh, Albus, it’s lovely” Ginny whispered, staring down at the box. 

 

“Do you think he’ll like it?” Albus asked, succumbing to his nerves.

 

“He’ll love it” Harry reassured. He pushed his glasses further up his nose as if that would help with his observation.

 

“Just don’t tell us how much this cost you” Ginny looked at him. 

 

Albus closed the box and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Wasn’t intending on it” he replied before making his way up to his room. He was as horrible at wrapping presents as he was at trying to plan them but he refused to ask anyone else to do it. So his dogey wrapping skills would just have to do. Like they did every year. 

 

“Why didn’t you get me something as nice as that for the first Christmas  _ we  _ spent together?” Ginny asked her husband. 

 

Harry narrowed his eyes at his wife as if to say ‘ _ Really? _ ’.

 

She just beamed up at him, leaning up to press her lips to his.

 

“I’ll just have to make up for it next year” he smirked. 

 

***

 

“I know I probably shouldn’t be in here this close to Christmas but I just love it so much” Scorpius was saying. The two of them had somehow found themselves (unsurprisingly) back in the book shop that Albus had first brought him to. They’d become regulars over the last few weeks and it seemed it was always difficult for Scorpius  _ not  _ to leave without buying at least one book. 

 

“I’d buy you something but Christmas presents drained my bank account” Albus replied, turning a corner to catch up. He was pulling at the strings of his hoodie absently. There was something graining on him and he was starting to realise that he might be ready to do something about it. 

 

Scorpius was running his hand fondly along the spine of a book. It was something that already sat on his shelf at home but it would always be one of his favourite. He moved on, scanning the spine of the next few books. He knew that Albus was building up to speaking. He’d been mostly quiet for the whole day and he was fidgeting a lot at the moment. It was a nervous habit that he’s picked up from spending too much time with Scorpius. Not that he was complaining. “Don’t blame you. You have so many family members, it must be straining”.

 

“I don’t buy one for everyone. I buy one each for Lily, James, Rose and Hugo and we split a gift for mum and dad and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. So instead of four presets we get them two. Then my cousins and I usually do Secret Santa and then split more gifts for my other aunts and uncles”.

 

“Sounds complicated” Scorpius smirked, looking over at him. 

 

“I guess so” he shrugged. It had always been his normal, so it made sense. Albus looked up at Scorpius as he turned back to the books in front of him. He was smiling the same way he always did when he was surrounded by books. As if he was in the happiest place on earth. Albus needed to tell him now. “Scorpius” he muttered, hoping his voice didn’t sound strained. 

 

“Hmm?”.

 

“I need to tell you something”.

 

Scorpius pushed the book he was holding back onto the shelf and made his way over to Albus, stopping in front of him. “You know you can tell me anything”.

 

Albus took a deep breath, trying to muster any and all courage that he had in him. “I’m asexual” he said, staring at the ground. 

 

“I know”.

 

His head snapped up again, “What do you mean you know?”.

 

Scorpius smiled at him. “Albus, you wear an ace ring” he reminded, tapping the black ring on Albus’ right hand. 

 

“Wait” Albus muttered. It was taking his mind a little bit longer than it should have to process this. He guessed that he wasn’t actually aware any besides his family knew what his ring meant. “You  _ know _ ?” he repeated. 

 

“Did you not want me to know?” Scorpius asked, confusion making its way into his expression. 

 

Albus cursed himself because he really didn’t know how to answer that. “No - I - I mean, yes. I don’t - I don’t know” he stammered. 

 

“What’s wrong?”.

 

“How long have you known?” he asked.

 

“A while. Albus, is everything ok?” he muttered.

 

Albus ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t sure why he was confused that Scorpius knew. It wasn’t something he was trying to hide from him. And he did wear his ace ring every day, it was a part of him. He just couldn’t shake the nervous feelings away. “Does it bother you?” he asked, looking up at Scorpius again. 

 

“That you’re asexual?”.

 

Albus nodded. He was very aware that he was facing one of his greatest fears. It didn’t help his nerves in the slightest. 

 

“Hey” Scorpius said, his voice incredibly gentle. “Albus, of course it’s doesn’t bother me. Did you really think it would bother me? Is that why you waited to tell me?”.

 

“I was just nervous, I guess” he muttered.

 

“It’s ok. I knew you’d tell me when you were ready” he shrugged.

 

“You really don’t mind?”.

 

“Al, it’s just who you are”. 

 

Hearing Scorpius say it made everything feel so  _ normal _ . Albus had spent every day since the last Potter & Granger/Weasley meet up being absolutely horrified that admitting this would mean the end of everything.  _ That’s  _ why he’d hesitated for so long. He knew how some people saw his asexuality. He didn’t want Scorpius to be one of those people. And somehow, by some incredible alignment of the stars, he wasn’t. 

 

“You were really worried about this weren’t you?” Scorpius asked. He pulled on Albus’ hoodie gently, bringing him closer. 

 

“Uh, yeah” Albus muttered. “I kind of … thought you would break up with me”. The words sounded so stupid now they were on the other side of this moment. 

 

Scorpius bit down on his lip so he wouldn’t laugh. It wasn’t that it was a  _ funny  _ statement. Albus was just so …  _ adorable _ . Scorpius took both his hands gently. “Al, look at me” he prompted and waited until he did. “Albus Potter, I, Scorpius Malfoy, could not give a flying fuck if you’re sexually attracted to me or not” he paused to watch the words sink into Albus’ brain. “Does that help?”.

 

“I don’t deserve you”.

 

“Well you have me anyway” he beamed. 

 

Albus laughed and squeezed his hands gently. “It helps” he confirmed. 

 

“You have nothing to worry about” Scorpius shrugged. I’m not going anywhere”. 

 

“Dork”. 

 

“Hey, Mr. Low Self-Esteem, don’t make me prove how amazing you are” he teased.

 

“Shut up. I’m going to kiss you” Albus smirked, pulling on the front of Scorpius’ sweater.

 

_ I love you _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should clarify a few things about this:  
> 1\. Albus is a sex-repulsed asexual. His entire family knows this and they love and support him (Hence why Rose bought him the purple hoodie. It's one of the colours of the ace flag if you didn't know)  
> 2\. If you want to know his romantic identity, he's demiromantic (doesn't feel romantic attraction until an emotional bond is formed)  
> I dunno if you guys have questions just hit me up here or on tumblr (revolution-freewill) I'm always down to answer things, truly.  
> 3\. All of this is written from my personal experiences of asexuality and does not represent all asexual people  
> I'll see you all soon! <3


	19. You're My Northern Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this chapter is late and yes I'm very sorry about that. Last week was crazy busy and I didn't have the time to right. It's Tuesday and I've only just now been able to. I'll try and get back to the Sunday schedule again. This is a Christmas chapter and yes I know it's February but I couldn't just skip over Christmas, my dears. It's important. Anyways, Happy Valentine's Day. Have some fluff!  
> Chapter title song: Find You by Topic

Albus hesitated before knocking on James’ door. They hadn’t really spoken much over the last few days and he knew James felt guilty for what he’d said on Saturday, but neither of them had done anything about it. Albus had news and he always told James everything. There was no doubt in his mind that he would tell him this as well. Albus knocked and waited. 

 

“Door’s open!” James called. “I’m in the middle of an urgent mission so I can’t pause it!”.

 

Albus shook his head before pushing the door open. To be fair, James didn’t have any assignments over the Christmas break so he could play as many video games start to finish as he wanted. At the moment he seemed to be working his way through  _ Watch_dogs 2 _ . When he looked up and saw Albus he paused the game immediately, moving to switch it for Mario Kart without a second though. Albus took a seat on James’ bed and caught the controller that was thrown at him. 

 

“I’m Yoshi so you can be Toad” James shrugged, quickly selecting his character.

 

“Nah I’ll be Daisy today” Albus smirked. “I think you getting beaten by a girl is much more fun”.

 

“Why not Peach?”.

 

“Daisy doesn’t get enough love”.

 

“Luigi would disagree with that”.

 

“You’re gross” Albus laughed. 

 

They scrobbled for a few minutes over which track to race on but decided the same as the always did,  _ Rainbow Road _ . It had always been fitting for both of them. 

 

“I told Scorpius I’m asexual” Albus said halfway through the first lap. 

 

“Yeah? How’d that go?” James asked, not taking his eyes off the screen. 

 

“Turns out he already knew” he shrugged.

 

“You do wear an ace ring, you know” James reminded, smirking.

 

“I didn’t think he’d notice”.

 

“And he’s fine with it?”.

 

Albus nodded, “Well he didn’t break up with me so there’s that”.

 

James looked over at his brother for a moment, almost missing a turn and slamming into a banana peel. “Al, you really didn’t that would happen did you?” he asked, turning serious.

 

Albus paused the game and sighed. “It’s complicated” he replied.

 

“There are actually good people out there, you know”.

 

“I know but it’s seen as so … important” he muttered.

 

“Sex? Ok yeah I see your point” James nudged him gently. “Don’t let society control how you see yourself, ok?”.

 

“That’s a little difficult” Albus ran a hand through his hair, dropping the controller next to him. 

 

“Maybe, but it’s worth it”.

 

“You’ve always been better at that than I have” he reminded.

 

“Remember when I told you to be visible? Keep doing that. It’ll feel normal before you know it”.

 

“Thanks, James” Albus smiled faintly and nudged him back. “You’re a good brother”.

 

“I’m sorry about what I said on Saturday. Lily was right. It was your secret to tell”.

 

“And now I’ve told him. No harm done, really”.

 

James fiddled with the controller in his lap absently, not looking up at Albus. “I know but I shouldn’t have said those things. It wasn’t fair to you and it upset you”.

“It’s ok. Really. I’m ok” Albus said. “Now come on. I can’t thrash you if we have the game paused”.

 

James rolled his eyes and pressed resume. “I was testing him, you know” he explained. “I will still fight him if he hurts you”.

 

“Let’s hope that he doesn’t then. I don’t want you hurting him at all”.

 

“That’s gay” James smirked. 

 

“Like you can talk” Albus shot back, skirting around a blue shell. 

 

***

“So you’ve come out of your cage and you’re doing just fine?” Lily asked. She, Rose and Albus were hauled up in the living room making their way through episodes of  _ Hemlock Grove _ for the billionth time. 

 

“Yep” Albus shrugged.

 

“I forgot how much homosexual subtext there was in this show” Rose muttered.

 

“Roman and Peter should just get together already” Lily replied.

 

“But no, Peter just gets with Roman’s cousin instead”.

  
“Ridiculous”.

 

“Just let the gays live”.

 

“You should put that on a shirt” Albus smirked.

 

“Let the gays live?” Rose laughed. “And then send 100 shirts to the writers of  _ The 100 _ . You’re a genius”.

 

“I have my moments”. 

 

“So did you manage to invite Scorpius to Christmas?” Lily asked. “This werewolf transformation has always been kind of gross”.

 

“I think it’s the eyes popping out that really takes the cake” he shrugged. “I told him that mum invited his whole family and he seemed a little shocked”.

 

“Well, they  _ are _ supposed to hate each other or something” she reminded.

 

“I think the Burrow will be safer. You know, in case the Death Eaters choose Christmas to congregate” Rose mused. “At least we’ll all be together that way”.

 

“It also means that Scorpius has to meet literally my entire family” Albus muttered, picking at a loose strand of his hoodie. “I don’t know how I feel about that”.

 

“It’ll be fine. It’s impossible not to adore him” she smiled.

 

“I hope it’s not awkward for his parents” Lily added. “That would be weird”.

 

“Animosity can fade with time. It’ll be fine”.

 

“I hope so”.

 

***

 

Christmas morning was filled with its own special kind of magic. It had snowed overnight and now everywhere was caked in a fresh layer of soft white. Albus was awoken at 7 by Lily jumping excitedly onto his bed like she did every year, reminding him that it was Christmas. He wasn’t even that bothered by it. There was a lingering nervousness for the day ahead but he was trying his best to ignore it, at least for the moment. 

 

“Albus, it’s your favourite day of the year!” she called, shaking his shoulder and laughing.

 

“I wasn’t aware that it was October” he muttered, tempted to thwart her with his pillow. 

 

“Well fine then. It’s  _ my  _ favourite day of the year” she beamed at him. 

 

“Fantastic”. 

 

“And you get to see your boyfriend today. The earlier you get up the earlier you get to see him” she smirked, shaking him again.

 

Albus pushed her hands away and sat up. “I don’t think it works that way” he reminded. 

 

Lily just shrugged, still smirking. “Are you nervous?” she asked.

 

“Terribly so. I get it. It’s Christmas. I can’t get up until you get off me” he pushed at her, careful not to push her entirely off the bed.

 

“You’re no fun, Albus Potter. Even on Christmas. That’s illegal” she protested, getting up and heading quickly towards the door. 

 

“That’s not illegal. It’s realistic”.

 

“Oh boo hoo” she rolled her eyes. “Just think about his reaction when you give him his present. That should motivate you”. Lily winked and then disappeared out the door, giggling to herself. 

 

It was a Potter family tradition that no presents would be opened until they reached The Burrow with the rest of their family. That way everyone could open their presents together. Under the tree were neatly stacked bags ready to be packed into the car the second they could. Ginny had to keep stopping James from taking a sneak peek at his presents. He may have been almost twenty but he was definitely still a child at heart. 

 

Harry used an awful lot of icing sugar on their pancakes and insisted that it looked like they had been snowed upon. It was an automatic hit with Lily who was definitely one of the world’s biggest fans of sugar that there was. Ginny couldn’t even disapprove since her family were all so happy in that moment. She just hoped the sugar high wouldn’t cause them to crash and burn before the end of the day. 

 

After breakfast was all cleaned up James started his annual tradition of a snowball fight between his siblings before they headed off to The Burrow. When he accidently hit Harry’s glasses with one, almost breaking them, it somehow turned into a kids vs. parents game. It was safe to say that they trailed a lot of snow into the car between the five of them. At least they still wouldn’t be late due to Ginny always making sure they were perfectly on time for family gatherings. 

 

***

 

There was nothing warmer than the feeling of The Burrow. It seeped into your bones and stayed there so there was an automatic sense of family when you stepped foot into the place. That was probably initiated by the Molly Weasley hug you received upon entry. If anything it was only enhanced by the multitude of other hugs you received by all the other family members you came across. Albus watched as James automatically struck up a conversation with their Uncle Charlie about his PHD thesis on the history of dragons in mythology around the world. He made sure to greet everyone, even his cousins who insisted on an explanation about how his love life had turned so incredibly dramatic since they’d last seen each other. Rose was smirking next to him the entire time through that. They weren’t nearly as reluctant to accept Scorpius as he was worried as he thought they would be. Maybe his worries could be well and truly thrown aside for the day. 

 

When the doorbell rang not too long after they arrived, Rose nudged Albus almost painfully with her elbow, bouncing on the spot. He rolled his eyes at her but she excused them from their current conversation with Fred and Louis and tugged him towards the door. Albus was sure that he could feel the eyes of just about everyone there on him. Molly was quick to rush to answer the door, always the hostess of everyone’s dreams. It didn’t take her too long to envelope Draco in a hug the second she opened the door. Albus noted that he seemed confused before eventually hugging her back.

 

“Draco! It’s so good to see you again” she smiled, pulling away. “We’re so glad you could make it”. 

 

“Uh, thank you for having us, Mrs. Weasley” he replied, obviously a little uncomfortable.

 

Molly swatted his shoulder gently. “Oh shush, you can call me Molly”.

 

Draco returned her smile and then introduced Astoria. Molly quickly ushered them in out of the cold and said something to Scorpius that sounded an awful like “Don’t worry about me. Go and find Albus!”. 

 

Albus could feel his cheeks heating up even before Scorpius’ eyes locked onto him. He wasn’t aware that he’d stopped breathing until Rose nudged him again gently. Scorpius was just so beautiful. And there was snow in his hair and he was smiling at him. Albus could probably die happy right there. 

 

“Hey” Scorpius beamed at the two of them, stopping in front of Albus. 

 

“Uh, hey” Albus replied. 

 

“Merry Christmas, Scorpius!” Rose laughed, throwing her arms around him and quickly pulling him into a hug. When she pulled away she shoved him towards Albus again.

 

“I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your family” Scorpius muttered, voice quiet. 

 

Albus shook his head and pulled Scorpius towards him, burying his head against his shoulder. “If a hug does that then I might have to disown them” he teased. 

 

Scorpius laughed, kissed the top of Albus’ head quickly and pulled away. “Merry Christmas” he said, looking between Albus and Rose, who was smirking again. 

 

“SCORPIUS!”.

 

Scorpius wasn’t aware of Lily until she’d slammed into him, he stumbled back a step with the impact and hesitantly returned her hug. “Uh, hi Lily” he said, patting her on the back a little awkwardly. 

 

Lily pulled away and beamed up at him. “Well, don’t you look dashing” she said. Her eyes flicked over to Albus. “Doesn’t he look dashing, Al. Absolutely dashing”. She was rocking back and forth of her heels, her hands clasped in front of her and looking between them all like she was waiting for them to understand a joke. 

 

Scorpius and Albus shared a confused looked.

 

“Dashing through the snow” Rose supplied, tone flat.

 

“At least  _ someone  _ appreciates my humor” Lily replied before rushing off again. 

 

Scorpius looked between his two friends for a moment before they all burst out laughing. “That was an absolutely horrible joke” he recovered. 

 

“For a minute I thought she was trying to flirt with you” Albus muttered. “I don’t know how I feel about that”.

 

“Jealous is the word you’re looking for” Rose winked. 

 

“Shut up”.

 

“So where do you want to start?” she looked at Albus, indicating Scorpius with a flourish of her hand.

 

“Oh” he muttered, as if he just remembered that he had to introduce his entire family to his boyfriend. He wasn’t ready. 

 

“If you want my professional opinion then I would say start with the cousins first and then work your way to the adults” she shrugged.

 

“Professional opinion?” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Yes”.

 

Albus took a quick glance around the room. To their credit, everyone was doing a good job of at least  _ trying  _ to act like they weren’t incredibly aware of the fact that Malfoys were joining them. They were even doing a good job at trying not to stare at him and Scorpius.”Can I hold your hand?” he asked, turning back to his two friends.

 

Scorpius smiled at him. “Albus, you can hold whatever part of me you want. Honestly, I’m all yours”.

 

Roe started giggling, using her hands to cover her mouth and turned away from them to try and hide it. 

 

Albus watched as Scorpius’ eyes widened as what he’d said sunk in. “That sounded a lot less weird in my head” he muttered.

 

Albus laughed and took his hand gently. “You hand for now will do, I think” he smirked.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean -”.

 

“It’s ok. Really”.

 

Scorpius squeezed his hand gently and then looked over at Rose who was doing a good job of recovering. 

 

Albus glanced around the room again and spotted James talking to Teddy and Victorie. Teddy’s hair was a bright blue this time and was mostly covered with a silly santa hat. He decided that that was safe and headed over. 

 

“I really do think you’ll be better switching majors. If you’re not happy then it’s obviously not the best degree for you” Victorie was saying.

 

“Yeah, and you know that my dad will help with any fee stuff” James reminded.

 

Teddy shrugged. “I really don’t want to ask him for help with money. It always feels wrong”.

 

“He’s your godfather. He’ll do anything for you”.

 

“It just seemed like a good idea when I picked it”.

 

James spotted them first, smiling at them automatically. “The lovebirds return” he smirked, raising the glass in his hand as if to toast them. Albus wondered just how much alcohol he’d mixed in it this time. “It’s good to see you again, Scorpius” he added.

 

“You too” Scorpius replied. He felt Albus squeeze his hand, because of course he’d be able to tell just how nervous he was. 

 

“So, Al, are you going to introduce me to your new  _ friend _ ?” Teddy smirked. Victorie snorted next to him and tried to cover it with a cough. It didn’t quite work. 

 

Albus narrowed his eyes at him and took a deep breath. “This is Scorpius” he said, “my  _ boy _ friend. Scorpius, this is Teddy and my cousin Victoire”.

 

“One of his cousins. You better settle in, there’s a lot of us” Victoire smiled. “It’s nice to meet you”. 

 

“You too” Scorpius answered. 

 

“She’s right. There is an awful lot of us” Rose nodded. 

 

“I can see that” he smirked.

 

“You didn’t have to come, you know” Albus muttered, staring at the ground.

 

Scorpius turned to him quickly, letting go of his hand and wrapping an arm around him. He kissed the top of Albus’ head again quickly. “I wanted to” he said.

 

“Nawwwww” Teddy, James and Victoire said together. 

 

Albus looked up at Scorpius and smiled at him. “Thanks” he whispered, wrapping his arm around Scorpius’ waist in turn.

 

“Ready to start the rounds?” Rose asked, indicating the rest of their family members in the room. “If you think of it as three families instead of one it makes more sense”. 

 

“Well, four counting yours, Scorpius” James added.

 

“It’s all really one family though, isn’t it?” Teddy raised an eyebrow. 

 

James went in for a high-five before he could stop himself.

 

“You two are horrible” Albus rolled his eyes. 

 

Rose tugged on his sleeve gently. “If you don’t start now we’ll be chatting to people all night” she said.

 

***

 

The three of them made their way around the room in what must have been record time. All of their cousins bombarded Scorpius with questions. Where the two of them had met, how they’d gotten together, what his family’s reaction was, how he was dealing with being in a Romeo and Juliet situation (Well, only Fred asked that one). He answered each question honestly and with an almost sickening amount of heart-eyes, much to everyone’s delight. Even all of the aunts and uncles seemed to like him. Albus had never been more grateful in his life. 

 

“Oh this is my favourite part” Rose beamed, clapping her hands together. The three of them had ended up taking up one of the many couches with Lily. Arthur was currently helping Molly carry about a billion flat presents. 

 

“Do you all get the same present?” Scorpius asked. 

 

“They’re Weasley sweaters” Albus explained.

 

“Grandma makes one for all of us”.

 

Scorpius looked at the high pile as Molly handed them out. “That’s a lot of wool” he muttered.

  
“They’re perfect. I absolutely adore them. I’ve kept all of mine” Rose replied.

 

“So have I” Albus shrugged, “They’re good in winter”. 

 

“That’s really nice of her” Scorpius muttered. “It’s really sweet”. 

 

Rose and Lily shared a look as Molly approached the four of them, Arthur behind her holding more of the sweaters. 

 

Molly smiled at the four of them. “Rose. Lily” she said, handing the two girls their sweaters first. “I hope you like them”.

 

“You  _ know  _ we love them” Lily replied, quickly tearing at the wrapping paper. “Ooooh this colour is so lovely” she smiled, quickly throwing her pastel pink sweater over her head. The large ‘L’ shining on her chest.

 

“Mine’s orange. Thank you” Rose smiled, throwing hers on quickly as well. 

 

Molly carefully flicked through some of the presents before handing Albus his. “One moment” she muttered. “There’s one more here”.

 

Rose caught Scorpius’ eye and he looked back at her, obviously confused. 

 

“Scorpius, this one is for you” Molly said, handing one of the presents to him. “Someone told me that you like green. So I hope they were right”. Her eyes flicked to Albus, a smirk on her lips and she looked like she wanted to wink but she headed off. 

 

“Thank you” Scorpius muttered, staring down at the package in awe. “Albus, I didn’t get your family anything” he turned, suddenly alarmed. 

 

“You don’t need to” he replied.

 

“But -”.

 

“Scorpius, it’s fine. Really” Rose reassured. “She makes them for everyone”.

“I don’t want to be any trouble”.

 

“You’re not” Albus reached over, squeezing his hand gently. “I promise. 

 

“Well come on” Rose smiled, nudging Scorpius with her elbow. “Open it”.

 

He looked at Albus, “You first”.

 

Albus carefully tore the present open, careful not to rip the paper too much. His sweater was purple and he almost wanted to roll his eyes at that. Clever. Really clever. 

 

“Put it on!” Lily called.

 

Albus threw the sweater on and turned to Scorpius. “What do you think?” he smirked.

 

“Purple is still a good colour on you” he smiled.

 

“Now open yours”.

 

Scorpius stared down at the present for a moment. He was still shocked that he’d gotten one at all. He’d never even met Mrs. Weasley before. He opened it carefully and stared down at the green sweater. It was the same colour as Albus’ eyes as he couldn’t help but smile at that. 

 

“Of course it’s green” Rose smirked. 

 

“Something tells me  _ you  _ had something to do with that” Albus raised his eyebrows, looking over at her. 

 

“Me?” she asked, raising a hand to her chest. “What would  _ I  _ have to do with  _ this _ ?”.

 

Albus shook his head at her. Her smirk gave her way. 

 

“Do I put it on?’ Scorpius asked, looking up at them.

 

“You better!” Rose said.

 

He looked over at Albus and when he nodded quickly traded his own sweater for the green one. “What do you think?”.

 

“You look adorable”.

 

“So cute!!!!” Lily beamed, clapping her hands together. 

 

Albus cleared his throat, trying to force some words out. It didn’t help that all he could think about was just how incredible Scorpius was. “I really, really like you in green” he managed. “And I also really, really want to kiss you right now?”.

 

“Why don’t you?” Scorpius asked.

 

“Family” Albus shrugged. 

 

“Can’t blame you”.

 

“Oh, just kiss. You massive dorks” Rose muttered. 

 

Albus and Scorpius somehow managed to miss James and Teddy handed a very suspicious plant to Lily as they came over to stand near their couch. Lily caught Rose’s eye, winking at her and held the plant above Albus’ head. 

 

“Well, isn’t this just so unfortunate. Looks like now you  _ have  _ to kiss” she said, eyes glinting.

 

Albus looked up and then glared over at his sister. “Mistletoe? Really?”.

 

“The romantic tension is killing me” she shrugged.

 

Scorpius tugged on Albus’ sweater gently, gaining his attention. “We really can’t dispute tradition now, can we?” he asked.

 

Albus looked at him for a moment before pulling him in. He could hear Lily and Rose cheering and laughing and maybe he could feel some eyes on the two of them, but all that really mattered to him in that moment was Scorpius. He almost wished that they were back on the cliff just so he wouldn’t have to face his family again when he pulled away. He really didn’t want to pull away so Scorpius ended up being the responsible one this time. 

 

“There are children here!” Rose chastised, jokingly. 

 

“Their poor virgin eyes” Albus smirked, not looking away from Scorpius. 

 

Scorpius quickly kissed his forehead and then pulled away completely. “Well, this is an exciting Christmas, isn’t it?”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think of this as the calm before the storm. That's all I can say at this stage.   
> I'll see you all soon <3


	20. And The Sun Went Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I sure as hell owe you all an explanation on why I left this fic for so long. Truth is, I had an original plan for this fic that I strayed from because I was inspired by other things and then I lost track of what the hell was happening. This is me trying to get everything back on track. Fair warning, if this chapter doesn't hit you right in the heart and bruise your soul then I've done something wrong. I love you all, thank you if you continue with this !!!  
> Chapter title song: Galaxies by Owl City

Albus can remember exactly where he was when it happened. Everything had been so good up until that point. So good that there was a sick part of him that was sure this was some kind of gross karma. He couldn’t help but try his best to push those thoughts to the side. Christmas had been more than good and all Albus had heard during the few days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve was how much everyone loved Scorpius. He wished that that didn’t feel so far away now. He wished that it hadn’t gotten so dark so quickly. 

 

Rose had been over at the time. The two of them and Ginny were baking a cake for New Year’s. Something special that they could eat at the strike of midnight. Lily was already planning on staying away the whole time, just for the cake. Harry was supposed to be with them, but he’d been called into work urgently for a case that he wasn’t allowed to disclose the details of (they all had a sneaky suspicion that it had something to do with the Death Eaters), so it was just the three of them. They’d been working on the icing when Albus’ phone had started ringing. It was easy for him to ignore it when he and Rose were laughing and trying to decide how many different flavours of icing is too much. Rose was the one who grab it.

 

“Your boyfriend is calling,” she teased, handing the phone to him and laughing and he almost dropped in an an excited attempt to answer it before it stopped ringing. 

 

Albus should have known straight away that something was wrong. Scorpius had never called him before. They only ever texted and they never had a reason to call each other. Not until now that is. “Hey, Scorpius,” he beamed into the phone, trying to ignore Rose laughing because he was blushing.

 

“Albus,” Scorpius choked out. 

 

Somewhere in his brain, Albus registered that Scorpius was crying, something that he’d never seen or heard him do before. The sound pulled all the joy out of his body, sobering him quicker than he’d ever experienced. He felt a shock wave jolt up his spine, making him stand up straighter without him realising it. The smile fell from his face as he was immediately filled with worry. The laughter in the room stopped, forcing it into an almost eery silence. “Scorpius, what is it?”

 

Scorpius couldn’t seem to answer straight away. Albus heard a few sniffles, a few shaky breaths. “I’m sorry,” he managed, his voice an octave higher than usual.

 

“Don’t apologise. What’s wrong? Where are you?”Albus felt like there was weight pressing against his chest, making it much harder for him to breathe as he waited for Scorpius’ answer. 

 

“My mum” Scorpius whispered. Albus could tell that he was trying to calm himself down, trying to keep his voice steady but it didn’t seem to be working at all. 

 

All warmth left the room. Albus grabbed onto the kitchen bench behind him so that he didn’t collapse to the ground where he stood. He knew what that must have meant. But everything had been so  _ good.  _ It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t  _ fair _ . 

 

Rose grabbed onto his shoulder, helping him stay upright. He locked eyes with her and noticed immediately that she was more worried than he’d ever seen her. That wasn’t reassuming in the least. 

 

“Are you at the hospital?” Albus asked, trying not to let on just how shaken he was starting to feel. 

 

Ginny moved first, quicker than either of them thought it was possible for her to move. She grabbed onto her wallet, fishing expertly for her car keys and headed towards the door without a second thought. 

 

Even when Scorpius muttered out a ‘yes’, Albus couldn’t force himself to move. He was frozen. 

 

Rose squeezed his shoulder, trying to get his attention. She was worried that Albus was about to black out or something, his eyes were distant and she didn’t think he was 100% there anymore. Physically, of course he was right in front of her, but mentally he was in a much more terrible place. “Go,” she urged. “I’ll clean all this up. Go to him.”

 

It took Albus more energy than it should have to nod. He knew he had to go. He had to leave right now. He had to be with Scorpius as soon as he could. He needed to be with Scorpius. He needed to be there right now. Rose gave him a gentle push in the direction of the door and that seemed to be what he needed. Albus started towards the door, towards the car, without even looking back. He still had the phone to his ear, could still hear Scorpius breathing. “I’m coming,” he muttered. “I’ll be there soon.”

 

“Albus, it’s not supposed to happen like this.”

 

He closed the car door with much more force than necessary, only reaching for his seatbelt out of pure habit. “I know. I’m on my way. Just … just stay there. I’ll be with you soon.”

 

Scorpius didn’t reply to that, but he didn’t hang up either. Albus didn’t hang up either. He just continued the hold the phone to his ear and listened to Scorpius breathe. At least that seemed to help somehow. There was some kind of reassurance in just the breathing. 

 

Ginny didn’t say anything to him as she drove. She didn’t even turn on the radio to any station at all. She was clutching tightly to the steering wheel with both hands, so much so that her knuckles were turning white. This wasn’t something that she wanted either Albus or Scorpius to go through. This wasn’t really something that she wanted anyone to go through. She felt sick.

 

Albus had never realised until now how fortunate it was that he only lived about a fifteen minutes drive from the hospital. Twenty minutes with traffic. He could see the hospital building looming ahead of them as they waited for the traffic light to change to green. He’d never really had to go to a hospital before. Only once, when Lily was born, but he was sure that that didn’t count. 

 

“Are you in emergency?” he asked, as the light finally changed and Ginny all but surged the car forward. 

 

“Yeah. In the hallway, um, waiting room thing.”

 

“Give me two minutes,” he replied.

 

“I’m going to hang up now,” Scorpius muttered.

 

“Ok.”

 

“I, um, I’ll see you soon.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Albus had never realised just how much the beeping of a disconnected call could bother him. He felt his heart beating hard in his chest as Ginny pulled up in front of emergency. He wasn’t even sure if that was legal but he wasn’t in the right mindset to be asking questions, or to even care about that. 

 

“Will you be ok to get in by yourself?” Ginny asked, turning slightly to face him. 

 

Albus just nodded, not quite looking at her. 

 

“I’m going to find parking and call your dad. Then I’ll join you, ok?”

 

He nodded again, pushing the car door open with shaky hands. There was a small part of his brain that was thinking about just how expensive finding parking at the hospital would be, but he didn’t pay it any attention. He wasn’t sure if his vision was blurry on purpose or if he was about to pass out. All he could was the flourescent lights inside the building. He moved towards the sliding doors, barely waiting long enough for them to inch open before launching himself through them. 

 

Albus stopped in the doorway, unsure where he was even headed or what he had to do now. There was a reception desk to his right, and seating to his left. His eyes quickly scanned the room for a specific shade of blonde. All that mattered was finding Scorpius, but there was a lot of people in this room. And suddenly there was a lot of noise and he was finding himself to be just a little bit overwhelmed. It took him too long before he spotted Scorpius. He didn’t even need to think before he moved towards him. 

 

Scorpius was leaning against the wall behind him and Albus knew that it was the only thing keeping him upright. The only thing keeping him from collapsing to the ground. Scorpius looked absolutely ruined. His hair was a mess. He’d been pulling at the sleeves of his jumper so much that he’d somehow poked little holes just below the elastic of the cuff. When he looked up at Albus, there were tear tracks staining his cheeks and his eyes were red and puffy. Albus wasn’t sure if he felt sick, sad, or like he was dying. It seemed to be a mixture of all three. 

 

When Albus finally reached him, having to weave between the other people in the room, he didn’t hesitate before pulling Scorpius into a hug. Scorpius all but fell against him, clutching to him and trying to still the sobs that were already making a reappearance.

 

Albus had no idea what to say. Scorpius felt much colder than usual, and somehow smaller. Somehow more frail than he usually was and Albus wasn’t sure how that could even happen. He buried his head against Scorpius’ shoulder and squeezed him back just as tightly. “I’m here,” he muttered, because that seemed to be all he could think of it to say. It didn’t even help because that seemed to set off the waterworks again, and Scorpius was crying before he could even think of something to respond with. There was a small thought rolling around in Albus’ mind. He’d never actually been held as tightly as this before. He just wished that it could be under different circumstances. Any other circumstances would be fine. He just wanted Scorpius to be ok. None of this was fair. 

 

***

 

Albus wasn’t sure how long the two of them stood like that, holding onto each other. He didn’t have any way of keeping time. He could feel Scorpius’ heart hammering against his and eventually his tears seem to fall back into just his shaky breathing again. Albus wasn’t sure if that was any better but at least it was something. When he heard footsteps approaching he knew that his mum had returned. There was something reassuring about her just being there, like some warmth had somehow returned to the washed out room. 

 

“Mrs. Potter,” Draco greeted. Albus had never heard him sound so sad before, so strained. It was like the life had been sucked out of him and he was struggling to keep himself together. It was nothing like the steely Draco Malfoy that he always expected. 

 

“Draco,” Ginny replied. Her voice was soft, calming even, without her even realising it. Albus thought that it must have been some kind of mum thing. That seemed to make some sort of sense. 

 

“Thank you for bringing him,” Draco continued, lowering his voice so that Albus could barely hear him. “It’s what Scorpius needs.”

 

Ginny sighed and looked between the two boys, still holding so fiercely to each other. She wasn’t sure if they’d ever be able to let go of each other entirely ever again. “You’re a good father,” she said, eyes moving back to Draco. “Someone needs to tell you that.”

 

Scorpius seemed to choose that exact moment to pull away slowly, not too much but just enough that he had Albus at arm’s length now. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Albus caught the ghost of a smile on Draco’s face.

 

“Hi, Mrs. Potter,” Scorpius said, his voice a little steadier than it was on the phone. 

 

“Hi, Scorpius,” she replied, trying to offer him a smile even it would be no help at all.

 

“If it’s ok,” he continued, “please don’t hug me right now. Your hugs they’re - they’re mum hugs and I can’t -”he broke off. “I can’t have those right now. That’s not - that’s not what I need.”

 

Ginny nodded solemnly, her eyes flicking between him and Albus. While it might have seemed to others to be a strange thing to say, she understood immediately. 

 

Scorpius looked back at Albus, who he hadn’t even really made eye contact with since he’d gotten there. He felt his heart do it’s little jump, the little ‘Albus is here’ jump that it always did, regardless of the circumstances. “Hey,” he muttered.

 

Albus couldn’t help but smile a little at that. Scorpius was such a  _ dork _ . “Hey,” he replied.

 

Scorpius was going to say that Albus could still hug him, because Albus’ hugs were in no way mum hugs so they weren’t included in his earlier statement. Albus’ hugged seemed to be what he needed. Maybe it didn’t need saying because Albus seemed to already know. He pulled Scorpius into a hug. Somehow this time it felt different, like a breath of fresh air and suddenly Scorpius could breathe again.

 

“It’s ok,” Albus said, even if none of it was ok, or probably ever would be ok again. At least Scorpius wasn’t really shaking anymore. 

 

“I’m glad you’re here.”

 

“Where else would I be?”

 

***

 

Eventually the four of them ended up sitting down. Scorpius was resting his head against Albus’ shoulder and aimlessly playing with his fingers. It helped keep him sane. Neither of them had really spoken all that much, conversation didn’t seem to be something that needed to happen. They just sat in a silence that was some both incredibly anxious and comfortable at the same time. 

 

Albus had no way of telling what time it was or how long they’d been there. The only indication that time was indeed passing was the constant movement within the room. There were patients entering and exiting, ambulances occasionally slamming on the breaks out front as paramedics and doctors yelled assessments at each other. Albus wasn’t sure if he’d gone deaf or if he’d just stopped hearing them at all. He felt like he was in slow motion. It was easy to get lost in it all. When Harry came to replace Ginny, tousled from work and obvious exhausted but willing to let his wife go home and get some rest, Albus guessed that that must have meant it was getting late. Neither of them tried to convince him to move, which he was more than grateful for. Scorpius had fallen asleep on his shoulder and he would rather die than move at this point. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to. Ginny kissed him on gently on the forehead, ruffling his hair with a smirk before giving him a small wave and heading off. 

 

“Doing ok, Al?” Harry asked him.

 

Albus nodded.

 

Harry tried his best to fought off a smirk but he couldn’t help it. “Comfortable?” he teased, eyes flicking to Scorpius and back. 

 

“I hate you.”

 

Harry smiled faintly and ruffled his son’s hair before taking Ginny’s vacated seat next to Draco. He was sure that they were in for a long wait. 

 

***

 

Scorpius woke up just before midnight. Albus only knew that because of the small TV in the waiting room that was trained onto the channel that was about to broadcast the fireworks. The time was blazed in the corner, counting down until the new year. Scorpius had startled awake, obviously pulling out of a nightmare that he was slowly realising was actually his reality. Albus grabbed onto his hand firmly, trying to calm him down. Scorpius looked over at him and seemed to visibly relax.

 

“You’re still here,” he said.

 

Albus nodded, stroked his thumb along the back of Scorpius’ hand gently. “I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry.”

 

Scorpius didn’t quite know what to say to that. He just squeezed Albus’ hand back and tried not to start crying again. 

 

Something flickering caught Albus’ eye. His eyes turned back to the TV and noticed that the countdown had begun. Just fifteen seconds to midnight now. “Hey look,” he muttered, nudging Scorpius gently. “It’s almost midnight”.

 

10, 9, 8 

 

“I hope this year is better,” Scorpius shrugged, looking over at Albus he was sure that somehow it would be.

 

7, 6, 5

 

“I hope so too.”

 

4, 3, 2, 1

 

The fireworks started bursting, intermingled with shots of people in bright colours laughing and celebrating. Scorpius looked over at Albus and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

 

“Oh,” he muttered.

 

“Oh?” Albus asked.

 

“I’m supposed to kiss you.”

 

“What?”

 

Scorpius smiled for the first time in so many hours. “It’s midnight. New Year’s Day. New Year’s kisses. You’re my boyfriend,” he smirked.

 

“Oh,” Albus replied, realising what he meant.

 

“Do you not want me to kiss you?”

 

“Why is that even a question? Of course I want you to kiss me, but only if you want to.”

 

“I want to,” Scorpius muttered, leaning towards him.

 

Harry had never experienced a more somber New Year’s than this. Even after everything he’d been through in his youth, somehow this was worse. At least Albus seemed to happy enough, that was something. 

 

“This is the first New Year’s I haven’t been able to kiss my wife since before I married her,” he said to no one in particular. 

 

“Well you’re not trying your luck with me, Potter.”

 

Harry looked over at Draco, mostly just in shock. When he thought he saw Draco crack a smile something fell into place. “Did you just make a joke?”

 

“You’d think after everything that you’ve been through, Potter, you’d be able to tell when someone’s teasing you,” he replied.

 

Harry had no idea what to say to that but he found himself laughing at the pure ridiculousness of it. Ginny would lose it when he told her about it later. She’d probably almost die from the lack of oxygen from laughing too much. 

 

Albus’ phone vibrated. He’d practically forgotten it was there, trying to not to use it too often to help preserve the battery. It was a picture from Lily. She was smiling the biggest smile he’d ever seen and was holding up a spoon with an awfully large chunk of cake resting on it. “The audacity,” he sighed. 

 

“Hmm?” Scorpius muttered, peering over his shoulder. “What’s with the cake?” 

 

Albus looked over at him. “I’m going to need you to kiss me again,” he said. 

 

“Poor Lily,” Scorpius smirked, tugging on the front of Albus’ hoodie gently. 

 

The only thing Lily replied with was a small image. Not of herself, but of a specific little seal. A seal that was quite contentedly yelling out the word ‘GAAAAYYYYY!’ Hearing Scorpius laugh when he saw it made missing out on the cake worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can't say I didn't warn ya. I'll see you as soon as I can <3


	21. The Night So Black That The Darkness Hums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest with you all I'm only like 20% awake right now and my head is throbbing but I wrote this chapter a few days ago and the reason I didn't post it then was because I wrote it all on my phone and only just now remembered. But it's here now. And I think it might be getting darker.  
> Chapter title song: In The Woods Somewhere by Hozier

Albus must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he was aware of was the sunlight filtering through the glass windows, and that his neck was pretty sore. Scorpius was still next to him, holding onto his hand as tightly as ever. Albus wasn’t entirely sure if he was Scorpius’ anchor or if it was the other way around at this point. Either way, there was some reassurance in him still being there. 

 

“You’re cute when you’re asleep,” Scorpius muttered, tracing circles on the back of Albus’ hand absently. “Not that you’re not cute at other times too because you are,” he added.

 

Albus wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that but at least the pink in his cheeks seemed to be from blushing and not from crying this time. “Good morning to you too,” he settled on, smirking.

 

Scorpius smiled ever so faintly, still not looking up at him. Albus could still sense the strain in him, the clear worry about Astoria. 

 

“How is -” he trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. 

 

Scorpius shrugged. “A doctor came a little while ago to get my dad. He hasn’t come back yet so I just … I don’t know.”

 

Albus nodded. He gently pried his hand from Scorpius’ and put his arm around him instead, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead gently. When he looked up again he noticed that James was gazing over at him, smirking something wicked. That must have meant that he was the next one on duty after Harry. He wondered briefly how long he’d been asleep for. “How was the cake?” he asked, letting Scorpius take his free hand as he burrowed against him. 

 

“We left you some, in case your were wondering,” James shrugged. “Both of you, of course. Congratulations Scorpius, you’re an honorary Potter now.”

 

“Thanks,” he muttered, voice muffled by Albus’ hoodie. 

 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. He probably smells gross.”

 

Albus rolleld his eyes. Maybe he was imagining it, but he thought that Scorpius might be smiling at that. Well, at least James was cheering him up a little. He deserved that much because Albus was sure that it wouldn’t last long with everything that was happening. “You’re the worst,” he said instead.

 

“It’s a talent,” James beamed.

 

Albus was never entirely sure how James managed to keep up his quick wit, even in the most trying of circumstances, but he was never not grateful for it. “Happy new year.”

 

James smiled faintly at that. He looked around the room they were in as another round of doctors dashed passed after another ambulance was unloaded. “I hope this year is better,” he replied, looking back over at his brother. 

 

Scorpius sniffled, snuggled closer to Albus. Albus kissed the top of his head gently before looking back at James. “I hope so too.”

 

“You know, they say who you’re with at midnight is an indication for the rest of the year so I’m sorry, Scorpius, I hate to break this to you but I think you might have to put up with Albus for a while yet.”

 

“Why are you like this?” Albus asked. 

 

“It’s not putting up with,” Scorpius muttered. “I enjoy the company.”

 

“Nawww. Aren’t you two sweet?” James teased.

 

“I hate you.”

 

“No you don’t, Al.”

 

***

 

Surely the reason that there wasn't any kind of clock in the room was to help with the nerves of waiting and everything, but Albus was sure not knowing the time at any point was doing more harm than good.  Scorpius hadn't spoken in what felt like years, not that Albus blamed him at all. He'd been keeping up idle conversation with James to help pass the time. Apparently the cake last night was good, better than the last one that Ginny had made. The only downside being that all the sugar kept Lily bouncing off the walls for at least another hour, but that was as much a tradition as anything else. When Ginny showed up again with a mostly still asleep Lily, Albus figured at least a few hours had to have passed, but Draco wasn't back yet. He felt sick.    
  
Lily came and sat in the empty seat next to her brother, leaning her head against his shoulder for a minute in comfort. "You missed some good cake but I forgive you because you're being a very good boyfriend right now," she smiled, eyes flicking to Scorpius who seemed to have dropped off to sleep again. "How's your shoulder doing?"   
  
"I'm not entirely sure if it's still there," Albus replied. "I don't think I've felt it in a while."   
  
"Does he have a heavy head?" She teased   
  
"No," Albus rolled his eyes.    
  
"Made you smile."   
  
"Shut up."   
  
Lily nudged him gently. Albus was pretty easy for her to read and she could tell how strained and worried he was underneath everything else. He was holding onto Scorpius' hand tighter than she'd ever seen anyone do before. "It's going to be ok," she said, turning serious.    
  
Albus nodded, looking away from her. He watched as Ginny disappeared down a hallway with a doctor. He wondered what that meant. "I just ... for Scorpius' sake," he muttered, "I hope so."   
  
"That's not good," James perked up, noticing Ginny leave as well.    
  
"None of this is good," Albus reminded.    
  
"Yeah but that's .... really not good."   
  
Albus just wanted all this to be over. He just wanted everything to go back to being ok again, even if that could never really happen.    
  
James sat up straighter, suddenly very alert, as if he could sense something horrible was about to happen. Even Lily was starting to feel anxious. She was swinging her legs under her chair absently, constantly in motion.    
  
Everything seemed to hit a peak when Harry came rushing through the doors. What worried the three of them most was that he wasn't alone, he was flanked by two officers and immediately flagged down one of the receptionist, not so much looking in their direction before rushing off down another corridor. Lily grabbed onto Albus' arm, instantly worried.   
  
James was completely stiff. He looked between the corridor, the doors and the others before speaking. "You might want to wake him up. I think we're going to have to move soon," he muttered.    
  
Albus nodded, he felt inexplicably cold all of a sudden and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off the double doors his father had burst through. "I have a bad feeling," he replied.    
  
"I do too. Just wake him up."   
  
Albus looked down at Scorpius, who was curled up against Albus' hoodie. He looked more peaceful than he had over the last few days. It was a shame to wake him, considering how hellish his reality was at the moment. Albus shook his shoulder gently and squeezed his hand, not wanting to startle him awake.    
  
"You have to shake him more," Lily said. "Otherwise he won't wake up from his dream."   
  
"How do you know he's dreaming?" Albus replied.   
  
"He's a nerd. He's probably dreaming about you," she smirked.    
  
Albus sighed quietly. "I'm not sure what I expected."   
  
Lily just beamed at him in response.    
  
He shook his head and looked down a Scorpius again, who hadn't so much as moved. "Please don't hate me," he muttered. Albus poked Scorpius in the side where he just so happened to be ticklish.    
  
He startled awake immediately, sitting up so quickly that he almost hit his head on the wall behind him. He blinked a few times, clearing the sleep from his eyes. Once he seemed to realise where he was again he turned sad immediately.   
  
"Sorry," Albus apologised.   
  
"At least you're still here," he replied.    
  
Albus squeezed his hand reassuringly as Ginny burst back through the doors. With her was one of the officers that had entered with Harry. He went back to reception while Ginny made a beeline for her family. She didn't even say anything to them, just indicated for them to come. That wasn't reassuring in the least. Lily jumped over to James' side immediately while Albus and Scorpius helped each other up. After sitting for so long it was quite the effort.    
  
"What is it?" James asked, holding onto Lily's hand while the five of them made their way through the double doors.    
  
Ginny shook her head, either not wanting to say anything or not sure what to say. He couldn't quite tell which it was.    
  
Doctors and nurses rushed around them as they made their way down the corridor, the white coats and uniforms reflecting the fluorescent lights in the least unpleasant way possible. Everything was too bright and Albus realised that he was starting to get a headache. Maybe it was just the stress. The fact that he couldn't remember when he'd last eaten probably didn't help much either. The five of them cut a corner and Ginny ushered them into a small room. Draco and Harry were already inside, both of them looked like an utter mess.    
  
"They're all here," Ginny said as soon as they'd entered.     
  
Scorpius crossed the room and wrapped himself around his father before anyone so much as breathed. Albus realised that without Scorpius helping him stay standing he was practically about to collapse. Luckily, James seemed to sense that and grabbed onto his shoulder to help keep him upright.    
  
"What is it?" James asked, eyes looking between all the adults in the room.    
  
Harry ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ground, trying to avoid his eyes.    
  
"Mum?" He tried.    
  
Ginny looked equal parts exhausted and defeated. It wasn't a look he was used to when it came to his mother. "The death eaters," she said, voice much quieter than usual.    
  
James pulled both his siblings closer to him at that. He should have guessed that it had something to do with them. "What did they do?" He pressed.   
  
"James -" she sighed. "Not now."    
  
"What did they do?" He repeated, more panicked this time.    
  
"They haven't done anything," Harry answered, looking up at them all. "Not yet, at least."   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"   
  
"It means -"   
  
"That the worst is yet to come," Draco cut in, holding onto his son tighter.    
  
Harry sighed and looked around at them all. He shared a look with Ginny before speaking. "We need to move you all," he said.    
  
"Is it that serious?" James asked. He could feel Lily shudder against him. Albus had gone entirely stiff on his other side.    
  
Harry just nodded in response. He looked so tired. He had actually believed that none of this would be happening again. After everything that he'd been through in his youth ... he'd been sure that history wouldn't repeat itself.    
  
Albus had barely breathed since he entered the room. His brain was absorbing everything slowly, he knew that something was very wrong, but he couldn't take his eyes off Scorpius. He felt so sick, and even if his stomach had been empty for at least 24 hours, he was sure that he would probably throw up at some point.    
  
"Is mum ok?" Scorpius muttered, pulling away from Draco so he could see his face.    
  
Draco looked nothing less than entirely pained. It was obvious that he didn't have the words to answer that question. "Scorpius -"   
  
The door was forced opened, startling everyone in the room. On the other side was one of the two officers, his eyes quickly scanned the room before landing on Harry. Harry nodded and then looked at Ginny, who nodded. It all felt like an inside joke that they weren't a part of. Harry quickly moved, enveloping his children in a hug before leaving the room without a word.    
  
Ginny was the next to move, cutting across to her children. Lily immediately wrapped herself around her, obviously panicked by how serious all of this was becoming. "You'll be going to The Burrow," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, "For now."   
  
"Safest place in the world," James muttered, trying to reassure her.    
  
Ginny gently pried Lily off her and pulled James into a tight hug. "Take care of your brother and sister," she said. "We'll update you as soon as we can."   
  
"I'm scared," Lily whispered, looking up at Albus.    
  
Albus just wished he wasn't so sure that scared was the appropriate reaction to whatever was happening.    
  
"Try and keep an eye on Scorpius as well," Ginny added, pulling away and holding James at arms length.    
  
"I'll grow a third eye," he nodded. "Working on it right now."   
  
She couldn't help but smile at that, before quickly pulling Albus into a hug next. "It's going to be ok, Al. I promise," she said.    
  
"I don't think I can believe you," he replied.    
  
"I know."   
  
Harry popped back in, muttered something about how they needed to leave right now while not being able to make eye contact with anyone. James and Lily left first, then Scorpius who looked the most upset about having to be pulled away from his father. Albus was just about to leave when he was called back.    
  
"Albus," Draco prompted.    
  
Albus mightn't have stopped if it wasn't for how desperate he sounded. He felt a chill go up his spine as he looked back at him.    
  
Draco looked absolutely devastated. He couldn't even seem to find the words that he'd wanted to say, but Albus understood immediately.    
  
"If I let anything happen to him, you can kill me. I promise," he said. The words didn't seem to help anyone in the slightest but at least the statement was out there. Ginny quickly ushered him out of the room after that.    
  
                                                                ***   
  
The Burrow wasn't the easiest place to get to. Usually that's why everyone considered it one of the safest places in the country. It was a fair drive, over an hour and it was practically in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and grass and every kind of greenery imaginable. The next hour and a half was the hardest of Albus' life, including his last math exam which was two whole hours of torture. None of them really spoke. Lily was sat on James' lap because she refused to leave his side, and even though that was entirely illegal none of them wanted to care.    
  
Silence wasn't supposed to be the loudest thing imaginable but somehow this one was. With none of them truly knowing what to say, or how to express what they were feeling the silence was heavy with the weight of what was going unsaid. Time seemed to drag on, making the ride the worst they'd ever been on. When The Burrow was finally insight, squashed against all the hills, a breath of relief fell over the car. At least there was some reassurance in their location, some warmth that they were used to.    
  
The four of them had been driven there by an officer, who hadn't said even a word to them for the whole trip. The second the door closed behind Scorpius he stepped on the gas. Suddenly the four of them felt very alone. They stood there, gazing up at the front door of The Burrow, not entirely sure what to do next. James was the first to move. He tugged gently on Lily's hand and promoted her towards the door. She didn't seem to need much more convincing than that and bounded up to the door, knocking a very specific pattern before pressing the doorbell. James tapped Albus' shoulder next, indicated for him and Scorpius to move ahead of him.    
  
As the door swung open, Lily practically launched herself at her grandmother, who easily caught her in a hug. Not even Molly seemed as cheerful as she usually did. She quickly ushered the four of them inside and shut the door as if she was worried that someone would see them there. Albus wasn't sure if there was any chance of that but he hoped there wasn't. The second they made it inside, Albus found himself with an armful of Rose.    
  
"Oh you're finally here! I thought I'd lost you or something. I've been so worried, Al. You idiot I've been trying to call you for hours!" She was saying.    
  
Albus was barely registering any of it. "Phones dead," he shrugged.    
  
Rose pulled away and looked at him, really looked at him. Her worry seemed to quadruple. Then he looked over at Scorpius at that only made it worse. Albus had never seen her so concerned.    
  
Scorpius was pale, sickly pale. So pale that you could probably mistake him for a ghost, he was almost transparent at this stage. His hair was still a mess, sticking up on one side, the side that was often pressed against Albus' shoulder, and the fact that he was still standing seemed to be a feat within itself. "Please don't hug me," he muttered. "I really - really don't feel like it right now."     
  
Albus had never wanted to be sick as much as he did right now.    
  
Rose quickly tugged the two of them into the living room, shoving them down onto the couch. "When did you last eat?" She asked.    
  
Albus just shrugged.    
  
Rose sighed, she caught James' eye across the room.    
  
"I'm on it," he said, disappearing in the direction of the kitchen.    
  
"At least tell me you've had some water," she continued.    
  
Albus shrugged again.    
  
"Oh bloody hell. James!"   
  
"I got it!"   
  
"Sorry," Albus muttered.    
  
Rose couldn't even be angry at him. She knew that all that mattered to him right now was that Scorpius was ok, and considering how impossible that was it wasn't helping anything. Rose just sat next to him and leaned against him, hoping that would help somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've stuck with this, I truly adore you. See you soon <3


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